Those who believe the British high street has gone to the dogs will be even more convinced when they find hordes of hounds guzzling treats at the deposit till of their local bank.

But that is far from the case with Metro Bank, which started from scratch in March 2010, but is now growing fast throughout the south east by offering service to every type of customer – even those with dogs.

In south Essex, branches are already up and running in Basildon, Chelmsford and Romford, and a Southend presence is due to open shortly. Further branches are planned for Colchester, Braintree and Clacton.

Following the 2008 financial crash, Business Secretary Vince Cable announced that more competition in the retail banking sector was a priority.

Few took up the challenge. In terms of high-street presence, Metro is the most prominent among those who have.

It represents a concerted attempt to blow fresh air and competition into the British banking system.

Its founder, American financier Vernon Hill, along with Metro’s current CEO Craig Donaldson, set out to change the negative status of British banking.

Metro wants to be the bank people love rather than despise and innovation has been the key to achieving this.

Two core business mottoes of Vernon Hill are: “seek fans rather than customers” and “compete on service rather than price”. They have been taken to heart by the business he founded.

Kevin Walker, 35, a regional manager whose portfolio includes Basildon and Southend, said: “The idea of personal relationships with customers is at the core centre of our culture, it’s in our DNA.”

The Fido friendly approach typifies this strategy. According to Metro’s publicity: “We understand how important man’s best friend is to our dog-loving customers, so we actively welcome dogs into our bank.

“We are all about convenience and being a dog-friendly bank is part of this. Bring your dog in when you next visit – we’d love to meet them!”

When I took my three mutts, Dennis, Shiloh and Henry along to the Basildon branch, they were greeted with edible treats, fresh bowls of water, and lots of flattering “oohs” and “aahs” from the staff.

Other examples of user friendliness include the promise it will take just 15 minutes to open an account, and seven-day-a-week banking – branches are closed for just three days in the course of the year. Behind this lies a broader philosophy.

That almost extinct figure, the local bank manager, is a core feature of Metro’s Essex branches.

Kevin says: “We have brought back the idea of a traditional store with a local director. Business and retail customers value the idea of a human face they can relate to.”

In another respect, Metro is very non-traditional.

Part of the appeal is that it was opened after the financial crisis of 2008, and therefore its brand is not tainted in the way that the famous old high street names most definitely are.

Yet for all its friendly customer service, can Metro hope to halt the main cause of the drift away from traditional bricks and mortar banks?

It is internet banking, rather than dissatisfaction with local branches, that is impacting most heavily on customer numbers visiting their local branch.

Kevin believes the old and the new will complement one another. He added: “We have an online system that is very much tuned to the current internet age, but it’s not really a matter of one being in lieu of the other.

“Customers who do most of their banking online still want a local store as well, even if they only visit it once a year.”

The approach seems to be paying off. Metro’s target for its Basildon branch was 500 new account customers a month and they have already smashed that figure.

Kevin said: “In fact, we have been picking up around a thousand a month, along with some established businesses in the area.”

To this fanbase he can also add my dogs.