Scarborough Building Society
Encyclopedia
Scarborough Building Society was a UK building society
Building society
A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially mortgage lending. These institutions are found in the United Kingdom and several other countries.The term "building society"...

, which had its headquarters in Scarborough, North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire
North Yorkshire is a non-metropolitan or shire county located in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England, and a ceremonial county primarily in that region but partly in North East England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972 it covers an area of , making it the largest...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Scarborough Building Society was formed in May 1846 - It was a member of the Building Societies Association
Building Societies Association
The Building Societies Association is the trade organisation of the building societies in the United Kingdom. In 2011 the 48 building societies in the UK had total assets of over £317 billion. 15 million adults have building society saving accounts and over 2.9 million adults are currently buying...

.

On 30 March 2009 the building society merged with the Skipton Building Society
Skipton Building Society
The Skipton Building Society is a building society in the United Kingdom . It is a member of the Building Societies Association....

 and now operates under the Skipton brand.

History

The Society was founded as 'The Scarborough and North and East Yorkshire Permanent Building and Investment Society' and it wasn't until 1903 that the current name was adopted.

The Society's initial objectives were to provide a safe haven for investors' money - and the finance to enable people to build or buy their own homes. The original investment rate was 5% and the first mortgage was for £120. These objectives still hold true today with the society's commitment to mutuality.

In 1939 the Society opened its first Head Office, when York House was built in York Place, Scarborough, providing both office accommodation and a full branch. York Place remained in the business as a branch until 2006 when Scarborough's premier town centre branch was relocated to Westborough.

The first Scarborough Building Society out of town branch was opened in Bridlington
Bridlington
Bridlington is a seaside resort, minor sea fishing port and civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It has a static population of over 33,000, which rises considerably during the tourist season...

 in 1955, and from then onwards new branches were opened throughout Yorkshire
Yorkshire
Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

 and into Teesside
Teesside
Teesside is the name given to the conurbation in the north east of England made up of the towns of Middlesbrough, Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar, Billingham and surrounding settlements near the River Tees. It was also the name of a local government district between 1968 and 1974—the County Borough of...

 and the East Midlands
East Midlands
The East Midlands is one of the regions of England, consisting of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northamptonshire and most of Lincolnshire...

. The present 9-strong branch network continues to be a central part of its expanding business.
Direct postal and telephone services were embraced in the early 1990s and the Investments Direct Service was created in 1991, taking the Scarborough investment brand to the whole of the United Kingdom. In 1998 direct service for mortgages was formalised with the opening of a Direct Mortgage Centre.

Whilst a great deal has changed in its long history, Scarborough Building Society remains committed to mutuality and continues to provide the true value of a leading regional building society. The assets now exceed £2.8 billion, making it the 17th largest building society
Building society
A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially mortgage lending. These institutions are found in the United Kingdom and several other countries.The term "building society"...

in the UK.

In July 2008 Scarborough Building Society announced the appointment of Robin Litten as its new Chief Executive, to replace John Carrier who retires from the post on 31 December 2008.

Merger with the Skipton Building Society

Due to pressures of the credit crunch and poor lending the Scarborough needed to find a 'safe' building society to be taken over by. On 3 November 2008, Skipton and Scarborough Building Societies announced their intended merger in a joint statement: "This is a real opportunity for the two North Yorkshire-based societies to create an enlarged Society that is even better placed to deal with any future uncertainties in the financial marketplace. The two societies are well matched, having similar business models, a strong geographical fit and shared commitment to mutuality, their members, their people and their local communities.

"Scarborough Building Society has seen difficult trading conditions leading to a substantial impact on profit and a resultant weakening capital position. In addition, the board of Scarborough has considered the possible impacts of continuing house price falls and the impending recession in the UK, and has concluded that the effect would be an unacceptable reduction in its capital resources and that, to fully protect the interests of its members, it should approach Skipton Building Society as its preferred merger partner".

David Cutter will become chief executive of the enlarged Society, which will be called Skipton Building Society and will be headquartered at The Bailey, Skipton. As previously announced, the current chief executives of both societies, John Goodfellow and John Carrier, will continue with their planned retirements on 31 December 2008.

The enlarged Society is now the fifth largest building society with approximately 860,000 members and over £16 billion of assets.

During the take over, all employees from the original Scarborough Build Society were made redundant and the headquarters was moved to Skipton.

External links

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