Cheshire Building Society

Nationwide Building Society trading as Cheshire Building Society

Type	Building Society, Trading Division (Mutual)
Industry	Financial Services
Founded	1870
Headquarters	Macclesfield, England, UK
Products	Savings, Mortgages, Investments, Loans, Credit Cards, Insurance
Net income	£5.1 million GBP (December 2007), 50.5% on 2006
Total assets	£5.0 billion GBP (December 2007), 5.5% on 2006
Employees	400+
Parent	Nationwide Building Society
Website	www.thecheshire.co.uk

The Cheshire Building Society is a former building society based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Prior to the merger with the Nationwide Building Society it was the 11th largest in the United Kingdom based on total assets of £5.0 billion at 31 December 2007.^[1] It is a member of the Building Societies Association. With effect from 15 December 2008, it was acquired by the Nationwide Building Society, and now operates as a trading division of the latter. This was the result after the Nationwide had been approached by the Cheshire in September 2008, regarding a possible merger due to the financial position of the Cheshire.

Established in 1870 in Macclesfield, the Cheshire was one of the first Permanent Societies. The Society is the product of 13 mergers, which began in 1969 when the Cheshire merged with the Northwich Building Society. This was followed by a series of smaller mergers through the 1970s and 1980s. The branch network now extends throughout the North West and includes 49 building society branches and 12 property service branches.

Although a regionally based society, the Cheshire operates nationally following the launch of Internet and Intermediary Sales channels as well as a Customer Contact Centre located in Macclesfield.

It was the official club sponsor of Macclesfield Town FC.

On 8 September 2008, it was announced that the Cheshire, along with the Derbyshire Building Society, had agreed to a merger with the Nationwide Building Society, the largest such institution.

The merger was borne out of increasing fears about the financial security of both the Derbyshire and the Cheshire societies with the former expected to post half-yearly losses of £17 million and the latter posting losses of £10.5 million. As a result of those projected losses no windfall payments were to be made to savers of the smaller societies (they received greater financial security instead). Unusually, there was no ballot of members on the proposition, after a special resolution under the Building Societies Act enabling a faster merger.

The deal was concluded by the end of 2008 with agreement from the Financial Services Authority and the Office of Fair Trading. The Nationwide has initially kept the separate identities of the two societies although this was to be reviewed within two years.^[2] The merger was officially completed on 15 December 2008, with the Cheshire's website stating it as a trading division of the Nationwide Building Society.

Following the review in Q2 2010 it was announced that the brand was to be continued but the head office in Macclesfield was to be closed with most staff losing their jobs.^{[citation needed]}

External links

• Cheshire Building Society
• Building Societies Association
• KPMG Building Societies Database 2008

References

1. ^ Building Societies Association - Asset List (PDF File)
2. ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2008/09/08/ymnationwide108.xml