Interior of the Comptoir National d’Escompte de Paris branch in Angers in the 1910s

This postcard from 1910 shows an interior view of the Comptoir National d’Escompte de Paris (CNEP) branch in Angers. On the ground floor, the immense public lobby is surrounded by English style counters in waxed wood. In the centre of the room financial quotations, business magazines and scientific reviews are displayed on mahogany tables. The size of the branch and its large staff (20 employees) posted in all corners of the room indicate that it was a main office. Unusually, the management offices are facing the counters. The upper floors of the branch are reserved for the services that aren’t in contact with the clientele: accounting, portfolio, etc. The offices are collective and of average size, occupied by 2 to 3 people. Individual offices are reserved for personnel receiving customers in private.