Consumers want to see more ten pound notes in circulation
Monday 14th December 2009
The Bank of England is being urged to ensure that more ten pound notes are put into circulation after a flood of complaints from shoppers in the UK. Business leaders have told the Bank of England that consumers are getting annoyed at having to carry around larger notes such as twenty pounds notes in their wallets and purses because of the lack of ten pounds notes that are available.
A spokesperson from the Federation of Small Businesses, Stephen Alambritis, said that off licences and newsagents were being particularly hard hit by the lack of ten pound notes in circulation.
He stated: ‘I am constantly being asked about this problem. The lack of £10 notes is of particular concern to off-licences and newsagents.’ He also said that in the past it was a lack of five pounds notes in the system that had caused problems, but this had now switched to a lack of ten pound notes in the system. This is partly because five pounds doesn’t buy as much as it used to, which means that people are having to use ten pound notes more.
Many people find it difficult to get ten pound notes from cash point machines, and this is because banks tend to use higher denomination notes in these so that they don’t have to refill them as often, which saves the banks time and money. It is estimated that around 70 percent of cash in circulation is withdrawn from cash point machines.
The Bank of England has denied that there is any problem with the number of tenners in the system, stating: ‘There is no shortage whatsoever of any banknotes in any denomination.’
There was a slight increase in the number of ten pound notes in circulation last year, but there was also a greater increase in the number of twenty pound notes in the system.