Background
Where it all began…
The Norwich Building Society was founded on 6th April 1852 under the imposing title of 'Norwich and District Provident Permanent Benefit Building and Freehold Land Society'. The Peterborough Provincial Benefit Society was founded in 1860. Norwich and Peterborough Building Society was formed on 31st October 1986 when the Peterborough and the Norwich Building Societies merged. At that time the Peterborough's assets were £280 million and the Norwich's were £176 million.
Our operating area runs from Scunthorpe to Chelmsford and west to Bedford. We operate through 55 branches spread throughout this area, plus a branch in Gibraltar, via a Contact Centre in Peterborough and through a fully transactional web site. For a building society, we offer a wide range of financial services: mortgages, savings, bank accounts, personal loans, general insurance broking and independent financial advice. We also have a strong commercial lending operation. We employ around 1,000 staff, of whom 400 are based at our principal office in Peterborough. All our staff are trained to offer very high levels of personal service and advice. We have 470,000 customers, the majority of whom are members and based within our operating area.
In the fiercely competitive savings and mortgage market, the Society has successfully pursued a policy of income diversification. The end of 2007 saw the Society in a very healthy position, with strong profits, comfortable liquidity, very low credit losses and ample capital strengt.
- Group profit increased by 20% to 24.3m; total income rose by over 10% with cost growth
held to less than 5%. - Group assets grew by 17.4% to £4.3 billion.
- Liquidity balances increased to £1,016m at the end of 2007. These now represent 23.6%
of total assets, a very strong position despite the market’s recent liquidity difficulties. - Share balances increased by £459m to £2,823m.
- At the year end, there were 8 properties that had been re-possessed and only 168
mortgage accounts more than three months in arrears, reflecting the Society’s careful
and targeted lending approach. - Customer numbers within our region increased by 3.3% to almost 380,000, well above
our expectations; overall membership grew by 5.8%. - Reserves increased by £18.1m to £205.2m (plus 9.7%). At the same time, as a result
of our Basel II accreditation, we managed to repay £15m of subordinated liabilities.
The Society conducts regular dialogues with its members through members’ meetings and other events. It is clear from these that our members have a high level of trust in the Society and wish us to continue as a mutual. This stance has been confirmed by the Board.
Where we are today
The Society now has 56 branches. Whilst these are mainly located in East Anglia and Lincolnshire, there is also a branch in Gibraltar (opened in 1990). Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II opened the principal office, on a "green field" business park, just outside Peterborough in 1988. The Norwich and Peterborough Group includes Norwich and Peterborough Insurance Brokers Ltd, which is located in Cambridge, Cromer, Dereham, Downham Market, Felixstowe, Norwich, Outwell and Woodbridge.