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 willalso host sessions as part of the Global Co-operative Banking Forum.
