A list of building societies in the UK that gave up building society status (non-profit making, owned by members) and become profit making PLCs. This process is known as demutualisation.
List of former building societies and date of demutualisation.
- Abbey National 1989 – Converted to PLC now known as “Santander”, it is part of Spanish banking group – Banco Santander.
- Cheltenham and Gloucester – 1994 – takeover by Lloyds Bank. Now part of Lloyds TSB.
- National & Provincial Building Society 1995 – takeover by Abbey National Business merged into Abbey National, name no longer used.
- Alliance & Leicester 1997 – Converted to PLC. Now has been merged into Santander group.
- Bristol and West – 1997 – takeover by the Bank of Ireland. Remains a division of Bank of Ireland but its savings balances and branch network were transferred to the Britannia Building Society in 2005. No longer ceases to trade.
- Halifax 1997 – Converted to PLC. Merged with Bank of Scotland in 1999, now part of Lloyds Banking group (in 2009). Trading name Halifax still used.
- Northern Rock 1997 Converted to PLC. Nationalised in February 2008. Bought by Virgin Money in 2012.
- The Woolwich 1997 Converted to PLC. Now part of Barclays plc.
- Birmingham Midshires 1999 takeover by the Halifax. Now part of Lloyds Banking group. Trading name still used, but only by post and online.
- Bradford & Bingley 2000 – Converted to PLC. Nationalised after credit crunch of 2008. Savings book sold to Santander.
Top 10 existing building societies
- Nationwide Building Society £196,129m Yes
- Yorkshire Building Society £32,647m
- Coventry Building Society £24,487m Yes
- Skipton Building Society £13,910m No
- Leeds Building Society £9,860m
- West Bromwich Building Society £7,417m No
- Principality Building Society £6,450m No
- Newcastle Building Society £4,419m No
- Nottingham Building Society £2,478m No
- Progressive Building Society £1,655m No
Group assets Feb 2013.
Related