The West Bromwich building society has announced plans to open a new branch in its hometown. The opening will mean a re-location for its two town-centre branches to the New Square shopping centre on Cronehills Linkway.

The branches at 321 High Street, opposite the town hall, and Dartmouth Square will be moving to a vacant unit close to the anchor Tesco Extra store. The building society has said that the new branch will offer better accessibility and improved facilities for its customers.

It will provide the West Brom’s full range of savings and mortgage products, with additional services such as home insurance and financial planning for later life and retirement. Opening hours will be extended.

In a news release on its website, West Bromwich branch manager Pinda Kang said: “This is a really exciting move for the West Brom that puts our hometown branch right in heart of the retail district and enhances the quality of service we can offer people locally.

“New Square is an extremely popular shopping area that is playing a key role in the wider regeneration of the town. Establishing a branch here will makes things convenient for our existing customers and hopefully help us to attract new ones too.”

The new branch is expected to be ready to open by May. The closing dates of the two town centre branches will be staggered so that customers won’t have to experience any time without access to facilities. The Dartmouth Square branch will close first, around one week before the new branch opens, while 321 High Street will remain open until after New Square is fully operational.

New Square shopping centre has 30 stores, a selection of cafes and restaurants and a cinema. There is parking for around 1,900 vehicles and links to West Bromwich High Street, the Midland Metro and local bus services.

Steve Burr, centre manager at New Square commented in the West Bromwich news release: “The West Brom is a fantastic addition to New Square, bringing an incredibly useful and convenient service to complement the centre’s extensive retail and leisure offering. It’s also great to have such an iconic local business make its hometown base at the shopping centre.”