Bendigo Bank brings ‘branch of the future’ to Coffs Harbour
In a first for regional Australia, Bendigo Bank has today opened its new 'branch of the future' in the Mid North Coast city of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales.
Situated on Harbour Drive - in the middle of Coffs City Centre - the innovative new bank branch has been designed and developed in partnership with the Public Design Group to provide local customers and communities with improved access to information, experts, technology, services and products in ways they value.
With a brand legacy steeped in community and a purpose to feed into prosperity, Bendigo Bank’s development of a new Coffs Harbour branch is part of its wider strategy to reshape the Bank’s business for the future, so it can continue to better serve the needs of its customers, and the wider community.
As well as a fresh new look and design, the new Coffs Harbour branch also features a free Retail Pop-Up Space - prominently positioned at the front of the branch - which local businesses can access for two weeks at a time to profile their goods, and personally connect with new and existing customers.
Richard Fennell, Executive, Consumer Banking, Bendigo Bank, said the opening of the newly redesigned Coffs Harbour branch is an exciting development both for the Bank and the communities of the Mid North Coast of New South Wales.
“Our stable of ‘branch of the future’ properties have proven extremely popular ever since we first opened the doors of our pilot branch in Norwood, South Australia in late 2018,” Mr Fennell said.
‘Its success inspired the roll out of the initiative to both Leichhardt in New South Wales and Carlton in Victoria, and today, we are proud to launch our first ‘branch of the future’ outside of a capital city in Australia.
"We chose Coffs Harbour due its strong mix of community-minded residents and innovative small businesses, all of whom we believe will benefit from gaining access to prime retail space, which in turn, can help facilitate creativity and allow local businesses the opportunity to showcase their goods and services - for free.
"One of our primary goals for the new Coffs Harbour branch is to help inspire the local community and local businesses to embrace and foster entrepreneurship as a means of stimulating economic recovery in a COVID-19 environment, and supporting the lifestyle aspirations of all those in the Mid North Coast region,” Mr Fennell said.
The first local business to access the retail pop-up will be ‘Toys of Wood’, a unique, toy design business based in the Orara Valley on the Coffs Coast. Toys of Wood produces handmade wooden toys for children as well as homeware products and small furniture, including customised one-off designs.
Vivien Rink, Lead Designer and Owner, Toys of Wood, said she is excited at the prospect of becoming the first local business to take up residency at the new Retail Pop-Up Space in Bendigo Bank Coffs Harbour from 22 – 31 July.
"This is a wonderful opportunity for local designers and artisans to showcase their work in this new setting at the Bendigo bank,” Ms Rink said.
Bendigo Bank shares revenue with hundreds of communities across Australia. In the last 22 years, the Community Bank network has returned more than $229 million in profits back to local communities to fund important local projects and initiatives.
Bendigo Bank Coffs Harbour, 48 Harbour Drive is open for business from 9:30am - 5.00pm, Monday to Friday. For regular updates, follow Bendigo Bank Coffs Harbour on Instagram - @bendigobankcoffsharbour
