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Graham Beale, Chief Executive of Nationwide Building Society, has been elected Chairman of the Building Societies Association for 2009/10. He replaces John Goodfellow, former Chief Executive of Skipton Building Society, who has held the post for the past year.
Graham joined Nationwide in 1985 as a chartered accountant and became Chief Executive in 2007. In his first year he oversaw the successful merger with Portman Building Society and has since embarked on a transformation programme affecting all parts of the Nationwide Group (full biographical details below).
Commenting on his election as Chairman, Graham Beale said:
“Building societies have a history of providing long-term good value to their members, and it is important they are able to continue doing so. The sector faces some challenges. These include the need for a level playing field with the banks for access to funding. It is also important to ensure mutuals do not face unfair competition from nationalised, or part-nationalised, banks. The BSA also continues to be concerned at the levies imposed on societies by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.
“Nonetheless, building societies form an important part of the UK’s financial services marketplace, and I am looking forward to my time as chairman of the BSA as the mutual sector continues to build on this position.”
Richard Hornbrook, Chief Executive of Chelsea Building Society, has taken over as BSA Deputy Chairman from Graham Beale.
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CONTACT: Rachel Le Brocq
MOBILE: 07773489644
EMAIL: rachel.lebrocq@bsa.org.uk
BIOGRAPHY OF GRAHAM BEALE, CHAIRMAN OF THE BSA
Graham joined Nationwide in 1985 as a chartered accountant and spent a number of years working in all aspects of the finance function. He developed an in-house corporate finance team and was involved in a number of major transactions including the buying and selling of subsidiary businesses. This included the sale of Nationwide Estate Agents and the acquisition of UCB.
In 1997 he was appointed Managing Director of a subsidiary based in Glasgow and responsible for the ownership and management of a large-scale residential property portfolio. The company underwent a significant change/recovery programme to become a vibrant and profitable entity.
In January 2002 he was appointed Divisional Director, Commercial. In this role he was responsible for the Society’s commercial lending activities.
Graham joined the main board in April 2003 as Group Finance Director and became Chief Executive on 1 April 2007 and in his first year oversaw the successful merger with Portman Building Society. Since then he has embarked on an ambitious transformation programme affecting all parts of the Nationwide Group.
He is also a non-executive director of Visa Europe.
Graham is married with one son and one daughter. His interests include travel, photography and walking the dog.
BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARD HORNBROOK, DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF THE BSA
Richard Hornbrook was born and brought up in Manchester. Educated at Manchester Grammar School and London University, he is a Chartered Accountant by profession, having learned his trade with Coopers & Lybrand in Manchester.
Richard joined Chelsea Building Society in 1981 as Internal Auditor and was appointed Secretary in 1996. Following a variety of executive roles, he became a director in 2003 and Chief Executive in January 2005.
Richard is 56 and lives near Stroud in Gloucestershire with his wife, Marie. They have two grown-up children (both Chartered Accountants!) and two small grandchildren. Richard believes that bringing up a family has shown him the importance of careful financial planning and of helping others plan for the future.
Richard’s interests include Manchester United (he likes to remind people that he was born within a bus ride of Old Trafford), sport generally, travelling in search of warmer climes, historical fiction and fair-weather gardening.
The Building Societies Association (BSA) represents all 53 building societies in the United Kingdom. Building societies have total assets of £395 billion and, together with their subsidiaries, hold residential mortgages of £250 billion, more than 20% of the total outstanding in the UK. Societies hold over £235 billion of retail deposits, accounting for more than 20% of all such deposits in the UK. Building societies also account for about 37% of all cash ISA balances. Building societies employ over 51,500 full and part-time staff and operate through more than 2,000 branches.
The BSA’s Annual Conference was held in Harrogate on 20 and 21 May 2009.
Photographs of Graham Beale and Richard Hornbrook are available from the BSA press office, or from the Association’s website at www.bsa.org.uk
