Mr Denton said that the Scottish Building Society will officially open its newest branch on Glasgow’s Queen Street on Friday.

The announcement comes in the same week TSB put up to 400 jobs at risk when it revealed plans to close 84 of its branches.

Mr Denton, who spent over 25 years of his career with Royal Bank of Scotland, said the society sees value in maintaining a physical presence on the high street, noting that the role performed by branches extends beyond providing transactional services.

The society’s investment in the Queen Street branch, which will rise to £500,000 from an initial £350,000 in a 10-year lease, means it now has six in Scotland.

Mr Denton told The Herald: “I think people have forgotten what a branch is. Many of the decisions to close branches are based on the number of customers that actually come through the door.

“However, I am treating branches as a point of presence within communities whereby they represent brand assurance, a marketing opportunity and they clearly are there for customer service.

“Equally, if you get it right, they are a meeting point for community and the wider stakeholder base. We have mortgage intermediaries who are important to us, and important third-party partners, as well as, most clearly, our customers themselves.”

Mr Denton recognised that the presence of Scottish Building Society was not in the same league as the likes of Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group. However, he reiterated his determination for the society to be present in Scottish communities.

He added: “There is no question that people’s banking has changed. I’m not trying to defend any of the larger banks’ decisions. People are using digital far more.

“The reality is while people’s choice of channel may have changed… But what I am seeking to do is change what the purpose of a branch is. It is no longer just about a transaction or function, it is a relationship, community-type environment. Where else would I get the marketing opportunity on a permanent basis in the centre of Glasgow, like I have got for the investment I have made over the course of the next 10 years?”

When asked whether the society plans to open more branches, he said the current focus is to study the customer response to the new Glasgow investment.

He said: “I’m not saying yes just yet, equally I am not saying no. Branches are important to us. We have a large number of elderly customers as part of our base (and) many customers who still use physical passbooks, and love their passbook. So it’s important for us to have that physical presence.”

Mr Denton added that he enjoys the challenge of running the Scottish Building Society, which he labelled as culturally different to major banks but “pleasantly so”.

He said: “We’re a small organisation, and therefore there is much more of a family feel around the culture. There’s only 75 of us working for the society; everybody knows everybody, and equally there is an opportunity to deliver and decide things more quickly than in a larger organisation. Despite being smaller, we are actually more fleet of foot.”