Britannia Building Society
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| Type | Building Society (Mutual) |
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| Founded | 1856 |
| Headquarters | Leek, England, UK |
| Key people | Rodney Baker-Bates, Chairman (new appointment in 2008) Neville Richardson, Chief Executive |
| Industry | Banking and Financial Services |
| Products | Savings, Mortgages, Investments, Loans, Credit Cards, Insurance |
| Net income | £49.3 million (December 2007),  13.5% on 2006 |
| Total assets | £36.8 billion (December 2007),  4.8% on 2006 |
| Employees | 5,000 |
| Website | http://www.britannia.co.uk/ |
The Britannia Building Society is one of the major UK mutual building societies remaining today, with headquarters in Staffordshire, England. Britannia is the second largest building society in the United Kingdom based on total assets of £36.8 billion at 31 December 2007.[1] It is a member of the Building Societies Association.
Britannia Building Society provides financial services both directly and through more than 250 branches. Britannia is an important provider of both mortgages and savings in the UK, as well as commercial lending. Britannia also has an agreement with AXA to provide life, pension protection and investment products through its branches.
In April 2009 a merger with Co-operative Financial Services Ltd. was agreed, the first under the so-called Butterfill Act (2007 cap. 26). Until 1 August the two organisations will continue to trade separately.
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[edit] History
Britannia traces its history back to 1856, when the Leek and Moorlands Permanent Benefit Building Society was formed. The Society evolved into today's Britannia through a series of mergers, notably with the NALGO Building Society in 1960, the Westbourne Park in 1965 (leading to a change of name to Leek and Westbourne) and with the Eastern Counties (as Leek, Westbourne and Eastern Counties) in 1974. A further merger in 1975 with the Oldbury Britannia Building Society saw the change of name to Britannia.
[edit] Bristol & West acquisition
The most recent acquisition was the savings arm and branch network of former building society Bristol & West (with approximately 700,000 savings customers). This was the first major re-mutualisation in the United Kingdom (following the earlier demutualisation trend) and brought membership of the enlarged society to nearly 3 million.[2]
[edit] Merger talks
In October 2008, it was reported that the Britannia was in talks with Co-operative Financial Services (owners of the Co-operative Bank and Co-operative Insurance Society) with a view to sharing facilities and possibly a full merger.
Such a venture would be possible following the passing of the Building Societies (Funding) & Mutual Societies (Transfers) Act 2007, [3] although further secondary legislation is required before such a merger can take place.
On 21st January 2009, Co-operative Financial Services and Britannia Building Society agreed to a merger, with the new 'super-mutual' being brought under the stewardship of The Co-operative Group. The proposed merger was subject to a vote by Britannia's members at their AGM at the end of April 2009.
On 29th April 2009 Britannia's members voted overwhelmingly in favour of the merger.[4]
[edit] Trivia
Britannia are the official sponsors of Stoke City FC, who will play the 2008-09 season in the Barclays Premier League, and lend their name to the stadium. They also sponsor Ipswich Town's west stand at Portman Road, the Britannia Stand. This stand is the largest in the Football League Championship.
In 2008 many employees took part in the Times newspaper employee satisfaction survey and they made it to number 2 in the large company category.
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Britannia Building Society Financial Report, 2007
- ^ Britannia Building Society Financial Report, 2006
- ^ http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/banking_and_finance/article4933646.ece
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8025221.stm
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