Manchester Building Society is returning to the city for the first time in years with a new flagship branch – and says it will grow its branch network in the area even as rivals keep closing theirs.
The society was founded in 1922 but no longer has any branches. It merged with the Newcastle Building Society in 2023. Now the merged group is planning to invest millions in reviving the Manchester Building Society brand, with the reborn society set to open a branch in King Street in the city centre.
Andrew Haigh, chief executive at the Newcastle Building Society Group, told the M.E.N the society wants to open more branches in Greater Manchester and wants local people to tell it where it should go next.
The Newcastle’s research shows more than 702 bank and building society branches have closed in the North West since 2015. The group – a mutual that is owned by its members – says it remains committed to the high street.
Mr Haigh said: “We will be recruiting as well in the region. We need to recruit a team in the branch. And the idea is that we will grow. We’re committed to branches at a time when others aren’t.”
And he added: “The absolute intent is that this first branch is a flagship foundation, a cornerstone, whatever you want to call it. But then we will start to build this relationship with the region and build out the Manchester Building Society brand.”
The new Manchester Building Society branch in the former Diesel store in King Street will open later this year. The society has secured planning permission for the three-storey redevelopment, which will also include meeting rooms for the local community and hybrid working space for the society’s staff.
Mr Haigh said Manchester has not had a branch “for some time” and that the Newcastle’s first job after the merger was to “give a future” to the Manchester society’s remaining 11,000 members. But they soon started thinking about growing the brand again.
He said: “We also were very conscious there could be an opportunity to do something in Manchester and the wider north west.
“We’re a business that’s owned by our customers and therefore we are there to serve our customers. We talk about our purpose as ‘connecting our communities with a better financial future’. And you can’t do that if you’re not physically present in the community.
“So we see branches as a vital part of the way we build a relationship with the communities that we serve.”
Manchester is the historic home of the co-operative movement and of mutual member-owned organisations. The city is still home to the Co-operative and to the Co-operative Bank, now part of the Coventry Building Society, while Stockport is home to the Vernon Building Society.
Mr Haigh said: “This is in many ways one of the absolute cradles of mutuality and cooperation in the country. So it feels absolutely right to be here.”
Mr Haigh said many customers do still want high street branches, but that banks have been closing them to save money. He said: “Branches are expensive to do, yes. They are not all about transactions in the way they used to be, with people just paying money in. But they are about relationships, about advice, and about being there, particularly for more vulnerable customers.
“It’s not our problem to get rid of branches. Our problem is: how do we make them work for the people that we serve?”
Mr Haigh said he could not yet give details of where any other branches might be. But he suggested the Manchester society could follow the lead of the Newcastle one, which has co-located branches in libraries and teamed up with local charities.
He said: “The joy of that is that there’s an economic side to it, as it makes it cost effective, you’re also partnering where the community is.
Andrew Haigh, of the Newcastle Building Society Group, in Manchester
(Image: Manchester Building Society)
“In North Shields, the YMCA have a coffee shop that is like the beating heart of the community and we’re right next door in the same space. Or in one of the library locations we’re right next to the children’s library, so if you’re sitting there in our little branch space you’ve got The Wheels on the Bus going on in the background! You’re right there in the middle of a community and that’s where the people are. So that’s where we want to be. So who knows where this journey might take us?”
Councillor Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council, said: “We are delighted to see the Manchester Building Society brand brought back to life, just over a century since it was first founded.
“Key to any prosperous and inclusive city is access to financial services. With the total number of bank branches nationwide effectively halving in the past decade, new facilities such as this will provide vital in-person services to residents of Manchester and the wider city-region.
“Commitments to providing community space and forging strong charity partnerships are further examples of how the brand’s reintroduction will bring social value to our residents, getting behind our city-wide ambition to Make Manchester Fairer.”
Joe Manning, managing director at inward investment agency MIDAS, said: “Manchester Building Society’s decision to open a flagship branch in King Street demonstrates strong confidence in our city centre as a place to invest.
“The investment in a physical presence is greatly welcomed, creating new community hubs that bring vital financial services back to our local communities while creating new jobs and economic opportunities across Greater Manchester.”
The Manchester society merged with Newcastle Building Society in 2023 after a turbulent few years that included a long-running legal battle with former auditors Grant Thornton.
Following the confirmation of its merger with the Newcastle, the society’s former CEO Paul Lynch said: “Manchester Building Society members and our Manchester colleagues can look forward with certainty and optimism to the opportunities presented as part of a larger, financially robust society.”