When ‘kindness’ was chosen as the 2024 Children’s Word of the Year in a survey by Oxford University Press, it brought a smile to faces at The Cumberland.

We live by our ‘kinder banking’ purpose that puts people and the planet first.

Based at Carlisle in Cumbria, The Cumberland is the UK’s 10th largest building society with assets of £3.2bn.

Yet we offer many services you’d expect from a regional bank – personal and business current accounts for example. We also offer car finance and support businesses in hospitality, healthcare, food & drink and professional services. 

We provide these additional services because our members want them. We are totally focused on their needs.

It’s a philosophy that has served The Cumberland well for 175 years, making us one of the oldest building societies still in existence.

Founded in April 1850, as the Cumberland Co-operative Land and Benefit Building Society, we shortened the name to The Cumberland in 1954 and opened our first branch in 1973. We now have over 720 colleagues and 31 branches across Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and Dumfries and Galloway.

We remain committed to branches and recently invested in our flagship outlet in Carlisle, which now has an open-plan layout where customers are greeted on arrival.

The role of branches has changed. They used to be very transactional but now serve as a safe space for members where a trusted person can answer their questions. Members value speaking to a real person.

The branches came into their own during Covid when colleagues would check on vulnerable customers and sometimes deliver their shopping.  Proof that ‘kinder banking’ is more than a slogan.

Customer satisfaction is high. We’re immensely proud to have retained the Feefo Platinum Trusted Service Award five years running.

We employ qualified mortgage advisers, and have a dedicated intermediary team and operate a relationship banking model for commercial borrowers.

The Society donates 1.5 per cent of profits to good causes. Two years ago, we identified food poverty as a major issue on our patch and launched Kinder Kind of Kitchen to provide hot meals and food through foodbanks and hubs.

The initiative delivered the equivalent of 577,047 meals in its first year. We are repeating our initial donation of £250,000 in 2024-25.

The Society also makes grants to community groups through its charitable foundation, provides free teaching and learning resources for schools with our financial education partner EVERFI, provides free tickets for youngsters to watch Carlisle United and helps protect red squirrels by funding Cumbria Wildlife Trust.

Our Chief People Officer Jill Johnston has overseen a significant culture change at The Cumberland too. A host of wellbeing initiatives – on everything from the menopause to neurodiversity – and a Belonging inclusion strategy are paying off. Women now occupy half of senior roles and last year the Society appointed its first female chair.

Best Companies rates The Cumberland as one of the best employers, ranked 2nd nationally in financial services, with a top three-star award for world-class levels of workplace engagement. 

We are looking to the future with confidence. In 175 years, we’ve had to adapt and embrace change many times but we’ve never lost sight of our values. 

Much of our success is down to our colleagues who live and breathe those values and go the extra mile for our members.

Find out more:

Watch our 175th anniversary celebration film here, and see how we’re building a kinder future for the communities we serve.

This article was first published in the spring edition of Society Matters magazine.