Leeds & Holbeck |
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Leeds & Holbeck commitment to the principle of mutuality can be traced back to the first half of the nineteenth century. The Society was formally established in 1875 but its origins began 30 years earlier. In January 1845 a group of people formed the Leeds Union Operative Land and Building Society in Holbeck. Members regularly contributed towards shares. When there were sufficient funds, a ballot was held and a beneficiary was granted the necessary advance to buy a property. This procedure was repeated until all members were satisfied. In total, four Holbeck Societies were established and terminated. Leeds & Holbeck directors and officials (1894) In 1874 the Societies Act was passed and in 1875 Leeds and Holbeck (Permanent) Building Society was founded by share holders of the original Holbeck Societies. By the end of the first year, 450 accounts had been opened and the Society had distributed a grand total of £16,000 in mortgage funds. In 1885, the Society established its Head Office in Albion Street where it remains today. The Holbeck premises became the first of its 57 branches. Products Leeds and Holbeck now offers an extensive range of mortgage and investment products. The Society is currently helping approximately 70,000 individuals, couples and families to buy a home, and has over 622,000 members. Continued growth The Society's currently has assets of over £5.3 billion, making it the UK's 8th largest Building Society. Leeds & Holbeck is owned by it's members - and intends to remain so. We continue to demonstrate the benefits of independent mutuality by offering high savings rates, low mortgage rates, and by putting members' interests first. Leeds & Holbeck branch staff We are committed to bringing our members an expanding range of Internet services, including the convenience of sending secure mortgage applications direct to our website. In addition to this we now offer both Mortgage Life Insurance and Life Insurance online application systems, an online funds supermarket - Fundstore and over the last year we have added Equity Release and Health Insurance services to the site. The Society will always embrace technological developments to further improve and expand our services - we recently launched an Intermediary website to support our introduced business and have taken our first foray into email marketing which is an ideal way of communicate with our members. The Society continually looks at ways in which it can increase the benefits to members. While 2002 saw the launch of the Leeds & Holbeck Credit Card, 2003 heralded the launch of a new personal loan facility offering extremely competitive rates. |
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