Yorkshire Building Society

Yorkshire Building Society
Building Society (Mutual)
Industry Financial Services
Founded 1864
Headquarters Bradford, West Yorkshire, England
Number of locations
 326
Key people
 Chris Pilling, Chief Executive
Products Mortgages, savings, investments,
insurance
£157 million GBP (December 2012)
Total assets
  • Increase £38.2bn (Dec 2015)
  • £37.6bn (Dec 2014)

Number of employees
 3,600
Website www.ybs.co.uk

The Yorkshire Building Society is the second largest building society in the UK,[1] with its headquarters in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It is a member of the Building Societies Association.

The society also owns the Chelsea, Barnsley and Norwich and Peterborough Building Societies, as well as Accord Mortgages and the savings business of Egg, which are referred to as the Yorkshire Building Society Group. Collectively the group employs 4,100 staff throughout the UK and services 3.5 million members.[2]

The Yorkshire currently provides financial services both directly and through a 224-strong branch network and 94 associated agencies across the UK. Despite changes in the industry in recent years, the Yorkshire remains as one of the major mutual building societies in Britain - a review in 1995 confirmed that their mutual status was important to them, so that they remain answerable to their members, rather than outside shareholders.

History

Yorkshire Building Society branch on Briggate in Leeds

In 1864 the Huddersfield Equitable Permanent Benefit Building Society was founded in Huddersfield, and expansion through a series of agreed mergers, predominantly with the Bradford Permanent Building Society in 1975, has seen it evolve into the national building society that it is today. The current name came into use in 1982, following the merger of the Huddersfield & Bradford Building Society and the West Yorkshire Building Society. The Yorkshire also has a mortgage subsidiary company, Accord. In August 2011 it announced that it was closing its offshore subsidiary, Yorkshire Guernsey.

The Yorkshire took over the Sussex-based Haywards Heath Building Society in 1992, in an effort to develop a southern based branch presence. In 2001, the Society merged with the Gainsborough Building Society.

In 2008, the Yorkshire merged with the Barnsley Building Society which had become a victim of the Icelandic banking crisis.[3] After learning lessons from previous mergers, and with the Barnsley being a larger organisation with a well-established brand, the Yorkshire decided to keep the Barnsley brand in order to keep existing customers and use it as another route to market their products.

The Yorkshire Building Society branch in Farsley

In 2009, the Yorkshire noted that they were in advanced merger talks with Chelsea Building Society.[4] The following day it was announced that they were to merge.[5] The merger with Chelsea Building Society, which retained its own branding until 2016, was completed in 2010.

The ninth largest building society at the time, Norwich and Peterborough, entered into merger discussions with the Society on 19 March 2011.[6][7] Following due diligence by the Yorkshire board,[8] N&P members voted in favour of the proposal on 22 August.[9] FSA approval followed on 23 September[10] and the transfer of engagements was completed on 1 November.[11] With almost no geographical overlap, the N&P name is retained as a separate and distinct brand.[12]

On 25 July 2011, the Yorkshire announced it was buying the Egg savings and mortgage business from Citi in a deal worth £2.5 billion.[13] Use of the Egg trade marks by Yorkshire Building Society is currently under licence from Egg Banking Plc which provides any residual Egg savings products that were not transferred to the Yorkshire and any Egg loans products that were not sold to Britannica Recoveries S.a.r.l.

Brass band

In 1993 the former Hammonds Sauce Works Band was renamed as the Yorkshire Building Society Band. The building society supported the main band and also the YBS Hawley Band and YBS Juniors.[14] The building society ceased its sponsorship in December 2004 although the YBS initials were retained in the band's name until 2008.[15] From January 2009 the band was renamed the Hammonds Saltaire Band.[16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Key Statistics Extract from BSA Yearbook 2011/12
  2. ↑ "Yorkshire Building Society plans £160m investment". Yorkshire Post. 21 February 2013. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
  3. ↑ "Barnsley Building Society rescued". BBC News. 22 October 2008. Retrieved 15 February 2016.
  4. ↑ "The Chelsea and Yorkshire building societies may merge". BBC News. 1 December 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  5. ↑ "Yorkshire and Chelsea building societies agree merger". BBC News. 1 December 2009. Retrieved 1 December 2009.
  6. ↑ Yorkshire eyes merger with rival society BBC News, 18 March 2011
  7. ↑ Wachman, Richard Yorkshire building society in merger talks with Norwich and Peterborough The Guardian, 19 March 2011
  8. ↑ Yorkshire and N&P building societies to merge BBC News, 20 April 2011
  9. ↑ Members agree Yorkshire and N&P building societies merger BBC News, 22 August 2011
  10. ↑ FSA confirms Norwich & Peterborough Building Society merger with the Yorkshire Building Society Financial Services Authority, FSA/PN/081/2011, 23 September 2011
  11. ↑ Dickson, Annabelle Norwich and Peterborough Building Society merger complete Norwich Evening News, 1 November 2011
  12. ↑ Joint Announcement Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, 20 April 2011
  13. ↑ "Yorkshire Building Society, UK's second biggest mutual, acquires Egg". The Publisher Group Ltd. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 25 July 2011.
  14. ↑ "History". Hammond Saltaire Band. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  15. ↑ "1993-2008". Hammonds Saltaire Band. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  16. ↑ "2009 and onwards". Hammonds Saltaire Band. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
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