The four desks ordered were required for the next two branches to be transferred to machine posting, Aston and Sparkbrook, as reported by the General Manager to the Bank Committee on November 17th 1930:
Mechanical Posting Machines and Ledger Safe Desks.
On the 11th November, 1929, the Committee approved of the gradual introduction of mechanical book-keeping so as to cover the requirements of the ten largest branches and Head Office, and authorised the General Purposes Sub-Committee to sanction the purchase of the necessary machines from time to time.
The first two machines were installed at Aston Cross and Balsall Heath Branches in May last, and have proved very satisfactory. The conversion to mechanical book-keeping was accomplished without any trouble or difficulty, and the experience gained during the past six months has proved that the machines fulfil all the requirements and give the results which were anticipated. The Committee will recall the expression of opinion by the General Manager that the introduction of a machine would enable him to reduce the staff of a branch by one clerk, and this has proved to be the case, with the result that it was not necessary to engage additional staff for the recently opened Stechford Branch, one clerk being withdrawn from Aston Cross Branch and another clerk from Balsall Heath Branch.
Two further machines were installed at Aston and Sparkbrook Branches at the end of October, and again the conversion proceedings were smoothly carried through. The same economy in staff will doubtless take place at these two branches.
It is now proposed to continue the gradual conversion at the Bearwood, Erdington, Handsworth, Kings Heath, Rotton Park and Small Heath Branches and Head Office, two branches being dealt with in the month of May and two in the month of October of each year, and the General Manager now asks for authority to order the necessary machines in sufficient time to effect the conversion at the periods mentioned. The makers require four to five months for the making of the machine.
With regard to Fire-proof Ledger Desks. At the Bank Committee meeting held on the 20th October the General Manager was ordered to obtain 4 fire-proof ledger desks from Messrs Samual Withers & Co Ltd at a cost not exceeding £56 each. These desks have been supplied and installed at Aston and Sparkbrook Branches. The Chairman has inspected the desks, with the General Manager, and is quite satisfied with the construction.
It is accordingly recommended that the necessary desks, of the same construction, be ordered forthwith and installed at the Aston Cross and Balsall Heath Branches, and that the requisite desks should also be ordered for each of the branches named above so that they may be ready for use at the time of the conversion operations.
The introduction of these fire-proof ledger desks will effect economies in respect of the purchase of ledger desks and ledger binders, the extent of the economy being dependent upon the number of accounts at a branch. Taking Aston Branch as an example the comparative costs work out as follows:
New System
2 Fire-proof Ledger Desks @ £56 each = £112
Old System
30 Ledger Binders @ £2. 7. 4d each = £71
2 Locking Devices @ £4 each = £8
The life of a ledger binder can be placed at a maximum of five years, so that the above expenditure would have to be incurred again every fifth year. In addition, mahogany ledger desks to the value of £33 will be surplus to the requirements at Aston Branch and can be used in respect of additional branches to be opened next year and thus save the purchase of new ledger desks.
It will be seen, therefore, that the fire-proof ledger desk is an economical proposition, and it can also be stated that considerable labour is saved in operating ledger cards.
On May 18th 1931, the Finance Sub-Committee reported that the Burroughs Adding Machine Company had made improvements to their ledger posting machine:
Ledger Posting Machines.
The makers of these machines have been able to effect certain improvements in the design which will considerably lessen the time taken for operating the machines. The cost of the improved machine is £430 as compared with £379 for the existing machine. The General Manager has pointed out to your Sub-Committee that the substitution of the improved machine at certain Branches, such as Handsworth and Small Heath, would obviate the necessity of purchasing an additional machine to meet the situation during winter months, and that the new type of machine will obviate engaging an extra operator.
Your Sub-Committee have accordingly directed the General Manager to take immediate steps to install the improved machines at the Handsworth and Small Heath Branches, and in connection with the scheme for the establishment of mechanical apparatus at the branches generally, to order the improved type of machines in future.
The Bank duly ordered additional machines, but negotiated a reduced price of £411. These machines were installed at Handsworth and Small Heath in May 1931 as the General Manager reported in the same month, as part of his review of the previous financial year:
The outstanding feature [of the year] in an administrative sense has been
the introduction of mechanical book-keeping and the installation of fireproof ledger desks. These have proved very satisfactory and
quite up to expectations. The first two Branches placed on mechanical book-keeping were Aston Cross and Balsall Heath, which were
dealt with in May 1930; the next two, viz Aston and Sparkbrook, were dealt with in October last. In each case I have been able to
reduce the Staff by one person, as was contemplated. At the beginning of this month Handsworth and Small Heath Branches were converted
to mechanical book-keeping and a similar reduction of Staff will doubtless follow. The saving in Staff thus effected has enabled me
to staff Wheeler Street Branch and to give help which was needed at other Branches.
The installation schedule called for the next two branches to be transferred to mechanical posting in October 1931. No record exists of which branches were converted at this date from the outstanding offices on the initial list: Bearwood; Erdington; Kings Heath; and Rotton Park, although it is known that machines were installed at Saltley, Hall Green, and Acocks Green (May 1935) and Birchfield and Springfield (May 1937). However, despite previous assertions that the Head Office premises in Edmund Street did not have sufficient space for the machines and ledger desks, the Finance Sub-Committee (on December 14th 1931):
were informed that it was proposed to make a change over
to mechanical book-keeping at the Head Office in February next and that two Burrough's Machines had been ordered. The firm had intimated
that owing to the rate of exchange the price of the machines would be increased to £472. 13. 0. each, and that any additional charges
by way of importation duties or tariffs would have to be borne by the purchaser. Alderman Sir Percival Bower had considered the matter
and agreed to the increased charge consequent on the rate of exchange, but declined to agree to any further charges in respect of
duties or tariffs, intimating that the firm must either accept a definite order at the price quoted or else no order would be placed.
The General Manager reported that the firm had subsequently agreed to supply the machine at £472. 13. 0 each without any conditions
as to duties or tariffs.
It would also be necessary to obtain 5 fireproof ledger desks in connection with the change over, and
arrangements had been made for these to be supplied by Messrs Withers & Sons at a price of £54. 13. 4. each, which was a slight
reduction on previous supplies.
The Chairman of the General Committee (Councillor Gelling), Alderman Sir Percival Bower and the
General Manager had inspected a ledger desk at the works of the Chatwood Safe Company but found that the same could not meet the requirements
of the Bank. Experiments were being made with another type of desk which the deputation saw in its rough state. This desk would be
more suitable, but until the finished article could be seen no reliable opinion could be given as to its merits.
The basic system to come out of these trials and decisions was for larger branches to receive Burroughs' Sensimatic Accounting Machines - eventually, several machines for Head Office and two for each of the other branches. These branches came to be known as 'machine branches' whereas branches continuing with manual systems were known as 'hand branches'.
As a consequence of the initial switch to the use of machines for posting to the ledgers, the Bank's Committee agreed that the female clerks to be employed as machine operators would be promoted to Grade C as "Cashiers and Machine Operators" at a salary of £210 per annum with yearly increments of £5 up to the grade maximum of £235. Two years later, in March 1932, the Bank's Minutes record the names of four members of staff promoted to be "Cashier-Operators": Misses P I M Hilton; P A Dotty: G R Nock; and M P Robinson.
As the General Manager reported to the Bank's
Committee, ledger sheets were initially persevered with for machine posting. This was a security measure: the ledgers, consisting
of bound sheets, could be placed in the branch strongroom overnight. Additionally, binding the sheets in a ledger that was held together
with a key made the loss or substitution of an individual sheet difficult. However, as the Bank soon realised, machine posting required
a more flexible system. Individual ledger cards were the solution when combined with storage in a secure, fire-proof cabinet. It is
doubtful whether the General Manager's desire that the cabinets could double as desks was practical, as the top of the unit needed
to be open for access to the cards.
The substantial, very heavy, cabinets had a sliding top secured by a key. The sliding lid
was pulled forward, an action that raised the trays that held the ledger cards as the lid was folded down in front of the cabinet.
The cabinets also had locked storage units at the base, accessed by doors at the front of the unit. The flexibility of loose ledger
cards meant that after a cashier had consulted the specimen signature on the card when a depositor made a withdrawal, the card could
be placed in front of its ledger tray. This routine meant that the cards were already out-sorted when the daily posting process came
to be done.
Eventually, all the branches identified as benefitting from conversion to machine posting were converted. In taking these mechanisation steps in the 1930s, the BMB was well ahead of the other savings banks in the UK. As late as the 1950s, the TSB's Administration and Extension of Services Sub-Committee were considering mechanisation as a means of reducing management expenses. In the 1960s, as Birmingham's inner city population moved to the suburbs, some branches were transferred back to manual posting, and the machines transferred to busier branches.
The Bank persisted with the Burroughs' Sensimatic machine although, as recalled by Maureen Limbrick, they were unpopular with staff due to their unreliability. Mechanical posting machines were made redundant with the introduction of computerisation of the Bank's accounting system in the early 1970s. The computer system meant that counter generated transactions were fully accounted for, in real-time, by the cashier using a terminal manufactured by Olivetti. These very large machines were replaced in due course by much smaller counter terminals, which were manufactured by Burroughs - at a meeting where staff were advised that Burroughs' equipment was again to be used by the Bank, the news was greeted with widespread groans, although in due cause, there were no reliability concerns.
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A 1956 Burroughs' advertisement for the Sensimatic machine described how different procedures were implemented (known as "Up Front Job Selection") by the use of a selector knob:
this four-job selector knob connects with the "brain", or sensing panel, inside a
Burroughs' Sensimatic Accounting Machine. The panel's hundreds of tiny metal "reflexes" divide up into four separate, specialised
accounting jobs. You select the job you want instantly, automatically with a simple turn of the knob. That's why your Sensimatic is
so versatile .... and why today's Sensimatic will stay modern tomorrow. For when you change accounting methods, you simply change
the panel - not the machine. And that's why big firms as well as small depend on Sensimatics to cut accounting costs .... to do far
more work in far less time. This complete Sensimatic flexibility is truly another Burrough's "touch of genius" - equalled only by
a Sensimatic's greater speed, accuracy, and overall simplicity of operation. Sensimatics come in six different series. Totalling capacities
range from two totals clear up to 19.