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38-561: Following the acquisition of the Bristol & West in 2005, the Britannia became the second-largest building society in the UK (based on total assets of £36.8 billion) at 31 December 2007. It merged with The Co-operative Banking Group in 2009, and was legally dissolved as a separate organisation on 1 August that year; it has remained as a trading name of The Co-operative Bank ever since. In January 2013,

76-561: A number of building societies did so. In July 1997, Bristol & West demutualised, its shares began being publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange (LSE)/ It was also sold to the Bank of Ireland for £ 600m ( € 882m), becoming a UK division of the Bank of Ireland, but maintaining its operations and branch network under the existing Bristol & West brand identity. In December 2003 ,

114-596: The Butterfill Act . CFS, which incorporated the Co-operative Bank and Co-operative Insurance Society , was itself a subsidiary of the Co-operative Group . On 1 August 2009, Britannia Building Society was legally dissolved and Neville Richardson, its last chief executive, became chief executive of the enlarged CFS. Coincidentally, the largest remaining building society, Nationwide , a competitor with Britannia,

152-695: The Paddington area of London the Westbourne had been founded in 1885 by members of the Westbourne Park Baptist Church. With assets of £53m it was the 17th largest in the industry and it propelled the Leek up to number six. In the spirit of the merger, the Moorlands name went and the society became the Leek & Westbourne. There were joint head offices and joint managing directors. The next large acquisition

190-660: The "Bristol, West of England and South Wales Permanent Building Society". It offered mortgages in the Bristol and the south west of England area, and became a well-known financial services institution in the region. By 1996 , Bristol & West was the ninth largest building society in the United Kingdom, with 1.1 million customers. After the Building Societies Act 1986 relaxed rules on building societies and permitted them to demutualise and convert into banks ,

228-401: The "Verde" business of Lloyds Banking Group after boards of the group and The Co-operative Bank decided that it was not in the best interests of the group's members to proceed further at the time. In May 2013, after the recognition of inadequate capital levels in the banking group, Euan Sutherland took over from Peter Marks as Co-operative Group chief executive. That month Moody's downgraded

266-497: The 1930s was still organic. Redden’s history recorded that in 1935 less than 2,000 out of 30,000 members were local and branches had been opened as far afield as Manchester, Liverpool and Bristol. Led by Hubert Newton, the Leek & Moorlands embarked on a sustained strategy of both branch openings and the acquisition of smaller building societies. Between 1956 and 1983 there were 55 separate “amalgamations” of varying sizes. Some of these were very small. For instance, in 1967 and 1968,

304-562: The 29-year-old [Sir] Hubert Newton was recruited as Secretary; he became a director in 1938 and under various titles, ran the society until he retired as Chairman in 1985, a span of 52 years. Like Sir Harold Bellman of the Abbey National and Sir Enoch Hill of the Halifax Building Society , Newton was one of the commanding figures in the building society industry. Described in the official history as “a maverick”, he had only been at

342-496: The 600+ branches, and a large chunk of mortgage business, that Lloyds Banking Group was ordered to sell by the European Commission . In July 2011, the chief executive Neville Richardson was replaced by Barry Tootell, who became acting chief executive of Co-operative Financial Services. Peter Marks, chief executive of Co-operative Financial Services' parent company The Co-operative Group cited Neville's desire to step down as

380-476: The BWSA ticker , and globally identified under its International Securities Identification Number (ISIN) GB0000510205, until June 2023, when the Bank of Ireland decided to redeem the outstanding Bristol & West preference shares and liquidate Bristol & West plc. The Bristol & West building society , registered number 2124201, was founded in 1850 ; 174 years ago  ( 1850 ) , originally as

418-458: The Bristol & West brand and all other parts of the business. On 21 January 2009, Co-operative Financial Services (later The Co-operative Banking Group) and Britannia Building Society proposed a merger, first mooted in October 2008. On 29 April 2009, Britannia members voted overwhelmingly to become part of Co-operative Financial Services, the first such merger between different types of mutual under

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456-452: The Bristol & West brand name, which was retained by the Bank of Ireland. Existing Bristol & West account holders were transferred to a Britannia-branded product, and all branches assumed the Britannia brand identity. The Bank of Ireland continued to offer B&W mortgages to intermediaries , packagers, and direct customers, through the Bristol & West brand, at its main processing centres in Bristol and Solihull . That meant

494-577: The Co-operative Banking Group and the Co-operative Bank. Bristol %26 West Bristol & West ( B&W ) was a former mutual building society in the United Kingdom (UK), one of the first to be demutualised to become a publicly traded bank in 1997. Bristol & West had its headquarters in Bristol , England , UK. B&W became a division of the UK arm of the Bank of Ireland in 1997 . B&W's main activity

532-463: The Co-operative announced that the brand would be phased out by the end of 2013, and began rebranding branches under its own name. However, the Co-operative Bank's own financial crisis resulted in the original plans being abandoned. Many Britannia branches were instead closed, and only a small number were retained and rebranded. The Leek & Moorlands Permanent Benefit Building Society was founded in

570-663: The Group agreed to outsource its information systems to Xansa (now Sopra Steria ). In 2008, Co-operative Financial Services was Business in the Community 's Company of the Year, having been recognised at their Awards for Excellence gala dinner for making sustainable development a top priority in how it operates and in the products and services offered to its customers. They also won an Impact on Society Award, given to companies that are improving their business and their overall impact on society in

608-681: The Leek bought two London societies: the Acme with assets of only £62,000 and the Greater London Permanent with £30,000 assets – barely enough to mortgage a couple of four bedroom detached houses. The first large acquisition came in 1960 with the NALGO Building Society; .it added £13m assets to Leek's £33m making Leek now number eight in the industry. In 1965 Leek merged with the Westbourne Park Building Society. Based in

646-618: The Leek for three years when he challenged the Building Societies Association over proposed rule changes and led a breakaway union, the National Federation of Building Societies (to merge back in 1940. Newton’s involvement with the association (he was later chairman of the BSA) gave him a range of contacts which facilitated the Leek's post-war acquisitions. However, with the exception of one small acquisition in 1938, expansion in

684-591: The UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA) fined the Bank of Ireland owned Bristol & West subsidiary "Chase de Vere Financial Solutions" for the "approval and issue of a misleading direct offer promotion". In 2005 , eight years after its purchase, the Bank of Ireland sold its Bristol & West plc savings and investment business to the Britannia Building Society for £150 million. The deal also included Bristol & West's 97 branches, as well as its direct savings business. The sale did not include

722-452: The bank's credit rating by six notches to junk status (Ba3) and the bank's Acting Chief Executive Barry Tootell resigned. The difficulties stem largely from the commercial loans of the Britannia Building Society , acquired in the 2009 merger. The group intended to sell its life insurance business to Royal London , releasing about £ 200m in capital, and was planning to dispose of its other insurance business. Further financial restructuring

760-702: The closure of a number of smaller mortgage processing centres throughout the country. In 2008, the half-year profit from the mortgage business was £52 million. Following the financial crisis of 2007–08 , the Bristol & West bank suffered large losses and, as a result, the Bank of Ireland took the decision to limit mortgage lending. On 8 January 2009, the Bank of Ireland announced to the stock market that it would close its Solihull and Reading processing centres (the Reading Centre processed Bank of Ireland mortgages only) and, as of 9 January 2009, Bristol & West mortgages would cease accepting new customers, though

798-839: The club's stadium . It also sponsored Ipswich Town F.C. 's west stand at Portman Road , the Britannia Stand , which was renamed the East of England Co-operative Stand in 2012. Britannia also maintained trade union affinity partnerships with UNISON —the Public Service Union (successor to NALGO), the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW), the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) and Unity (formerly CATU). The Co-operative Banking Group Co-operative Banking Group Limited (originally Co-operative Financial Services )

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836-598: The former Britannia Building Society became members of the Co-operative Group. The membership reward scheme was replaced with the Co-operative Membership scheme on 31 December 2009, when members began to earn dividend based on their account holding and borrowing with Britannia. Britannia was official sponsor of Stoke City F.C. , which played in the Premier League between 2008 and 2018, and lent its name to

874-422: The marketplace, the workplace, the environment and the community, through leadership and integration of its corporate responsibility practices. On 21 January 2009, Co-operative Financial Services and Britannia Building Society proposed a merger, with the new "super-mutual" being brought under the stewardship of The Co-operative Group. On 29 April 2009 the merger, the first under the so-called Butterfill Act ,

912-541: The number of members exceeded one million. In that year alone there were four acquisitions and 18 branches were opened, taking the total to 221. By then, however, the old guard was about to depart. The long serving managing director stood down in 1984 and Sir Hubert Newton retired as chairman in 1985. After that, there were only two more small acquisitions – the Blackheath in 1986 and the Mornington in 1991. The last acquisition

950-454: The reason for the change. In September 2011, Co-operative Financial Services became the Co-operative Banking Group. In December 2011 Lloyds Banking Group announced that Co-operative Banking Group was its preferred bidder for the assets which it was selling to comply with EU competition regulations, and that the two parties would be entering into exclusive talks. On 24 April 2013, The Co-operative Group announced it had withdrawn from purchasing

988-452: The renaming of the Britannia, the number of individual shareholders was 550,000 compared with only 23,000 after the War. Albeit helped by substantial inflation, the value of total assets was £781m compared with only £11m in 1946. Of course, it was not the only society growing by acquisition and the Britannia was still ranked around number seven in the industry. The growth continued unabated and by1982

1026-503: The small Staffordshire town of Leek in 1856. There were already two terminating societies in the town, one of which was the Leek Benefit Building Society. The Leek Benefit’s solicitors saw the opportunity for a permanent organization and formed the Leek & Moorlands. The solicitor’s managing clerk, Thomas Shaw, was installed as Secretary, later managing director, and he ran the society until his death in 1913. Under Shaw,

1064-526: The society slowly expanded into the neighbouring areas of Derbyshire and the Potteries in the 1860s and 70s. One of the early features of the Society was that it was free to lend on commercial and agricultural property. In 1879 the society registered under the Building Societies Act 1874 , taking the opportunity to shorten its name to the Leek & Moorlands. By this time the society had around 1,750 members; this

1102-422: Was mortgage lending for residential and commercial customers, although in 2009 , its business was transferred to Bank of Ireland and it became a shell company , and stopped accepting new customers. The Bristol & West brand name has since been replaced by the Bank of Ireland brand. However, as of 2021 , Bristol & West plc shares were still publicly traded on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) under

1140-512: Was a UK-based banking and insurance company and a wholly owned subsidiary of The Co-operative Group . Established in 2002, its head office was located at the CIS Tower , Miller Street, Manchester . It was mainly known through its two main subsidiaries: The Co-operative Bank (incorporating Smile , the first full internet bank in the UK) and The Co-operative Insurance . Co-operative Financial Services

1178-417: Was agreed by Britannia members. On 1 August 2009 Britannia Building Society was legally dissolved and Neville Richardson, its last Chief Executive, became Chief Executive of the enlarged CFS. The resultant "super-mutual" had assets of £70 billion and 9 million customers. As of June 2011, Co-operative Financial Services was reported to be close to appointing Credit Suisse to advise it on a potential bid for

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1216-407: Was formed as a holding company to bring these financial subsidiaries together under one umbrella society and to enable synergies between the businesses to be exploited. Following the Co-operative Bank's financial crisis in 2013, the group sold a majority of shares in the business, retaining a 20% stake. As a result, the group was reorganised, and the banking group structure was discontinued. In 2007,

1254-534: Was in 1974, the purchase of the substantial Eastern Counties Building Society. Recognizing the Eastern’s regional importance, the society changed its name to the unwieldy Leek Westbourne and Eastern Counties Building Society. However, within months the acquisition of the small Oldbury Britannia Building Society was the cue for a name change to the Britannia Building Society, effected in 1975. One year after

1292-609: Was itself formed in 1884 as the Co-operative Permanent Building Society to provide services to members of the co-operative movement. The Britannia group of companies included the following principal subsidiary undertakings: A former member of the Building Societies Association and the Council of Mortgage Lenders , Britannia also subscribed to the Financial Ombudsman Service . In 1999, Britannia

1330-484: Was one of seven building societies unsuccessfully targeted by the carpetbagger Michael Hardern . To fight this threat to its mutual status, in 1998, the society announced that new members would in future be required to assign any future windfall payments to the Britannia Building Society Foundation, a charity set up for this purpose. On the merger with Co-operative Financial Services, members of

1368-490: Was required, and the option of the Bank of England taking over the ownership of the bank under the Banking Act 2009 had been considered. Former HSBC executive Niall Booker was appointed Chief Executive of The Co-operative Bank. On 5 June Richard Pennycook, former finance director of Morrisons , was named Co-operative Group's finance director, and Richard Pym, former chief executive of Alliance & Leicester , as chair of

1406-446: Was the deposit base and branch network of former building society Bristol & West (bringing with it approximately 700,000 customers) from Bank of Ireland in May 2005. This was the first major re-mutualisation in the United Kingdom (following the earlier demutualisation trend) and brought membership of the enlarged society to just under three million. Bank of Ireland retained ownership of

1444-425: Was to increase to 4,600 (now shareholders) by the end of Thomas Shaw’s long tenure. After his death, Thomas’s son Arthur took over the running of the society until his death in 1929, by which time shareholder numbers were approaching 15,000. The Shaw family had controlled the society for 73 years. Four years after the death of Arthur Shaw, the directors decided to look outside the Society for fresh leadership. In 1933,

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