The Building Societies Annual Conference started today in Birmingham, the city where the first ever building society was set up in 1775. 

Rob Pheasey, Chair of the Building Societies Association (BSA) and Chief Executive of Marsden Building Society, opened the conference, with a look back at the history which has provided firm foundations on which the building society sector is built.

Speaking to the 1,200 delegates, he noted that those working in the sector today are the custodians of today’s 42 UK building societies, and with that comes the great responsibility of stewarding each Society for future generations to inherit.

The building society movement remains fundamentally the same as that first-ever Birmingham building society – customer-owned organisations, set up by communities, to support the people in those communities. 

Today, building societies are providing mortgages for 3.5 million families and individuals from all walks and all stages of life, and supporting 23 million people with their savings aspirations. 

Over the next two days at the conference there will be a mix of keynote speakers, panel discussions, and interactive workshops on topics such as housing, savings, regulation, digitalisation, innovation and climate change. The second day of the conference will also host sessions as part of the Global Co-operative Banking Forum. 

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Press contacts:
Tanya Jackson, tanya.jackson@bsa.org.uk  Tel: 07881 501098
Katie Wise, katie.wise@bsa.org.uk  Tel: 020 7520 5904

Notes to Editors:

More details about the Conference can be found here

The Building Societies Association (BSA) represents all 42 UK building societies, including both mutual-owned banks, as well as 7 of the largest credit unions. Building societies have total assets of almost £525 billion and together with their subsidiaries, hold residential mortgages of over £395 billion, 24% of the total outstanding in the UK. They also hold £399 billion of retail deposits, accounting for 19% of all such deposits in the UK. Building societies account for 40% of all cash ISA balances. 

With all of their headquarters outside London, building societies employ around 52,300 full and part-time staff.  In addition to digital services, they operate through approximately 1,300 branches, holding a 30% share of branches across the UK.