This year was supposed to be different to 2020 and our lives were meant to return to normal. It wasn't quite to be though as we were challenged again by the pandemic.
Through it all our New England branch employees kept the doors opened, albeit on reduced hours for the safety and wellbeing of all, to ensure they continued to serve our customers through these tough times.
Before the curtain comes down on the year, we caught up with some of our Branch Managers in your region to reflect on the challenges of 2021 and what they are looking forward to as we head into the Christmas and New Year period, and 2022.
Armidale – Nikki Armfield, Branch Manager
Going through lockdown again this year was our greatest challenge. I was really proud of the way our team stepped up to learn news skills and processes that allowed us to support other areas of the business that needed assistance, while continuing to assist our customers in branch as best we could. This meant we had to adapt to new ways of working, at times at short notice.
It’s been wonderful to see our regulars a little more again over the last month, and we look forward to seeing more and more of them in 2022.
In the meantime, we are all looking forward to spending time with our families over Christmas and over-indulging in lots of yummy food and home-made goodies! Some will be taking longer breaks to travel around the state and beyond for long-overdue reunions with family and friends.
Gunnedah - Jacqui Bull, Branch Manager
This year has been another learning experience at the Gunnedah branch.
But the greatest lesson? Take nothing for granted. We thought that we were through the worst of COVID last year, but in the blink of an eye it all changed again.
On a positive note, we are through it again. We are all standing and have smiles on our faces. I’m just hoping that very soon we don’t have to wear a mask and we can see these smiles more often!
We have a wonderful and close-knit team at the Gunnedah branch, and all are looking forward to taking a few days off to spend with our family and friends.
Tamworth - Dwayne Marshall, Branch Manager
The impact of COVID on the lives of our team can’t be underestimated. We are fortunate though to have an amazing crew at Tamworth that continually lifted each other up through the hardest times.
Greater Bank’s response to the pandemic of reducing branch hours and allowing more flexibility for employees was incredible, thoroughly appreciated and played an important role in helping all of us, including our families, to get through what was already a tough time. It certainly made us appreciate our workplace even more.
There’s plenty of Christmas spirit in our branch right now. Our customers are being treated to an array of Christmas tunes upon entering the branch, while the team will do a 12 Days of Christmas, bring in different home-cooked item to share on their allocated days in the lead-up to Christmas.
We’ll also continue our Christmas tradition of Barefoot Bowls followed by dinner and cocktails, which will allow all employees to celebrate together the year that has been.
There are plenty of positive signs to suggest that we can look forward to some kind of normality in 2022, and at the Tamworth branch, we can’t wait.
