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MORE DEBANKING SCANDALS

BASC names Barclays as antagonist in two cases

The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) says it has been informed of more than two dozen debanking incidents involving at least 15 financial service companies, as reported by GTN columnist Conor O’Gorman in Shooting Times.

Conor reported that a pattern was emerging for Barclays Bank, and that two shooting businesses wanted to share their stories with ST readers.

Northall Clay Pigeon Club in East Sussex had banked with Barclays for many years without any issues, until one day in September they suddenly lost access to their online banking services. It transpired that Barclays had closed their business account. Bank staff asserted that a letter had been sent to the club, though none was reported to have been received. When a copy of this letter was provided, it contained no explanation other than it was a “difficult decision” to make.

Mill Farm Clay Pigeon Club, also in East Sussex, saw their Barclays partnership business account suddenly shut down with no notice in December last year. The first they knew of this was being unable to access online banking.

Northall and Mill Farm clay pigeon clubs have since opened new accounts with Lloyds Bank.

But these are not the only cases. Barclays is sending account holders forms to complete to prove their identity and the activities of their business or club. This can be a very invasive and time consuming process, and can involve inappropriate threats to close accounts and sudden actual unexplained closures.

Whether Barclays is specifically targeting the shooting sector with these reviews is unclear, but it seems they are clearly not acting fairly and are potentially in breach of existing rules and regulations, based on what BASC has seen. BASC is supporting a number of live cases involving Barclays, and the Financial Ombudsman Service is currently investigating one case.

The Financial Conduct Authority continues its review into banking services and BASC intends to submit further evidence to that.

If you have been impacted, please email conor.ogorman@basc.org.uk

Edgar Brothers and Aimpoint re-establish partnership

Edgar Brothers have said they are very pleased to be able to announce the re-acquaintance with their old friends and partners Aimpoint, by becoming its sole UK distributor.

Known for its industry-leading red dot sights, Aimpoint has been at the forefront of this technology since the company was founded in Sweden in 1975. Since then, they have developed the red dot sight from a product designed to improve movingtarget shooting performance to an essential piece of military kit for most NATO countries. They supply over a million CompM sights to the US Army and Air Force alone.

Aimpoint has always remembered its roots, and today, professional and recreational hunters worldwide choose Aimpoint, knowing they cannot be beaten for reliability, durability, and performance.

Edgar Brothers’ Director of Shooting Sports, Tom Heapy, commented, “We’re very excited to re-establish a great working relationship with Aimpoint. It feels a bit like welcoming a family member back into the fold.”

Edgar Brothers have already taken a stock delivery, with new products on the way, so get in touch with your account manager or the sales desk for more information and to place orders.