The London office of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation opened in 1865, but HSBC’s heritage in the UK can be traced back even further. HSBC’s archives are one of the most important business collections in the world.
The HSBC Archives contain the historical records not only of HSBC, but also of many of the banks which have been acquired by it and its predecessor companies. The Archives reflect the colourful and eventful history of the bank – the core of annual reports, minute books and accounting ledgers is supplemented by a huge variety of material which records how our staff lived and worked, and the business environments in which our customers operated. They include letters, photographs, cartoons, films, advertising, banknotes, architectural drawings and interviews with staff – all of which can shed light on the social, economic and political history of those communities and countries where HSBC has done business.
The Archive Gallery was to be housed on the first floor of the new HSBC UK head office in Birmingham. Its main role is to enable the Archive to display their artefacts across a range of topics to tell the bank’s 180+-year history association with the midlands. It is a mix of graphics, multimedia, museum-grade display cases.
