AN Alcester man was “delighted” after his bank and care company put on a surprise birthday party to celebrate his 81st birthday recently.

Derek Malin who has been a customer of First Direct for 15 years and receives support from Home Instead Senior Care was treated to an afternoon tea party which was held at the Orange Mabel Tearooms on Alcester High Street.

Mr Malin was joined representatives from the bank who travelled to the town from Leeds to celebrate alongside and Home Instead representatives and his two carers Louise Farmiloe and Debbie Vale.

The two organisations decided to work together after Mr Malin had been speaking to both of them about his upcoming birthday.

Mr Malin regularly does his banking over the phone with First Direct and enjoys a talking with the team at the bank who themselves had become quite fond of the gentleman and his friendly banter and regular updates from the Midlands.

Prior to the birthday plans, the bank’s call centre in Leeds noticed that they hadn’t heard from Mr Malin for a couple of weeks and, after becoming concerned, contacted the company who provides his at-home care.

Home Instead Senior Care reassure staff that Mr Malin was fine but had been in hospital for short while disrupting the pensioner’s usual routine.

Karen Walker, customer services director at First Direct, said: “We love having great conversations with our customers and Mr Malin calls us regularly to wish us goodnight.

“I’m not surprised that our call centre team noticed that Mr Malin hadn't called for a while.

“We noticed it was his birthday shortly, too and wanted to do something special for him to reflect how much we care - a birthday celebration seemed like the perfect idea.”

Annie Dixon-Dunn, who owns and runs the local Home Instead office, said: “We think it’s absolutely lovely that the First Direct team wanted to celebrate with Mr Malin and our caregivers.

“He is a super gentleman and great fun so I’m not surprised that they had come to know him well over the phone and wanted to take the opportunity to meet and surprise him in this way.”