‘The computer says no’: the demise of the traditional bank manager and the depersonalisation of British banking, 1960–2010

This article examines the role of the British bank branch manager in the context of the transformation of banking since the 1980s, and discusses its implications for British banking. The analysis was based on interviews with retired bank managers and suggests that they viewed their role as being based on skill, authority and autonomy. The centralisation of authority and increasing targets deskilled and disempowered their profession. Drawing on Weber’s theory of bureaucratisation, this article argues that the loss of agency of managers depersonalised service provision as they could no longer base their decisions on personal considerations.