Tesco banks on Oldham store

Oldham is to get one of the first of Tesco’s new bank branches next month when the multi-million superstore on Huddersfield Road reopens after rebuilding.

Tesco, which announced a pre-tax profits up 10 per cent to £3.13 billion this week, said it plans to open 30 in-store bank branches to attract savers and borrowers wary of crisis-hit high street banks and building societies and fed up with bankers’ bonus culture.

The new 70,000 sq ft Oldham store should provide 750 jobs under the £35 million improvement plan for the Huddersfield Road district centre.

Tesco said the number of accounts at Tesco Personal Finance has risen to six million from five million a year ago. It plans to launch a current account within 18 months and is also looking at offering mortgages.

Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive, said the financial crisis had enabled Tesco to recruit people it would not have been able to attract or afford at normal times.

He said profits at the group’s retailing services division ˆ the Tesco.com website, the group’s telecoms arm and Tesco Personal Finance - could rise to £1billion within a decade compared with the current level of just under £400 million.