Derbyshire Building Society (previously trading as The Derbyshire) was a UK

building society A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially savings and mortgage lending. Building societies exist in the United Kingdo ...

based in Duffield,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

in the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, Li ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It was the 9th largest building society in the United Kingdom based on total assets of £7.1 billion at 31 December 2007, until it was acquired by

Nationwide Building Society Nationwide Building Society is a British mutual financial institution, the seventh largest cooperative financial institution and the largest building society in the world with over 16 million members. Its headquarters are in Swindon, England. ...

on 1 December 2008. It operated as a trading division of the society, with 50 branches, until it was fully integrated into its parent in November 2014.

History

In January 1847, The Derby Building and Investment Society was formed, with an initial £120 shares offered; this was a terminating society which, having achieved its purpose a year ahead of schedule, was wound up in May 1859. One of the Directors, Samuel Whitaker, decided to invite a group of business friends to a meeting on 12 August 1859 to discuss the preliminary arrangements for the formation of a permanent society. An immediate decision was taken and on 1 September 1859, the rules of The Derbyshire Permanent Building, Investment and Land Society were registered.Extract from page 3 of "The first hundred years: the story of the Derbyshire Building Society 1859-1959", published by Bemrose Advertising Ltd., 1959. Copy held at Derby Local Studies Library (reference BA332.2) Rev Gervase Wright was appointed the Chairman and Samuel Whitaker became the first secretary of the society, which was based at the offices of S Whitaker & Sons at 14 Iron Gate, Derby. The first subscriptions were received on 15 September 1859 and the society was advertised for the first time in The Derby Mercury on 21 September 1859. In December 1859, the first advance was made to Mr Richard Ashby for £50. From the start the society flourished largely due to the efforts of both the Chairman Rev. Gervase Wright and the Secretary Samuel Whitaker, with additional regular subscription meetings being held in Ripley and Matlock by early 1860, such that by December 1860 there were 456 members and 41 advances of over £6,000. In early 1870, the society's assets had grown to £56,000 and the need for larger premises lead to the offices moving to 4 Victoria Street, Derby, where it remained for many years. By 1876, the society's assets had grown to £123,700, though the industrial depression which lasted for the next decade, affected the society's further growth. In 1893, the society's Head Offices moved offices to 2 Victoria Street, Derby and in 1896 the society changed its name to "The Derbyshire Permanent Benefit Building Society". By 1900, there were 2,286 building societies in Great Britain with combined assets of £59 million, only 3 of which had assets of more than £250,000. By that time, the society's assets stood at £188,000, making the society one of the largest in the country. In 1966, the society merged with the Ashbourne Permanent Benefit Building Society and the Somercotes Building Society. The Somercotes society may have been based in the Derbyshire village of Somercotes (

Alfreton Alfreton ( ) is a town and civil parish in the Amber Valley district of Derbyshire, England. The town was formerly a Norman Manor and later an Urban District. The population of the Alfreton parish was 7,971 at the 2011 Census. The villages of Ir ...

Amber Valley Amber Valley is a local government district and borough in the east of Derbyshire, England, taking its name from the River Amber. It covers a semi-rural zone with four main towns whose economy was based on coal mining and remains to some extent ...

) where the society has a branch in Leabrooks Road. It also absorbed the Ilkeston Permanent Building Society in 2001. In 2007 the society was rebranded with a new logo containing the

Peak District The Peak District is an upland area in England at the southern end of the Pennines. Mostly in Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southe ...

Millstone, and a change of the trading name from "The Derbyshire" to the legal name of "Derbyshire Building Society". The new identity incorporated new signage for all branches and replacement passbooks and cashcards for members. Derbyshire Building Society -Coventry -8o08

Derbyshire Building Society -Coventry -8o08

On 8 September 2008 it was announced that the Derbyshire, along with the

Cheshire Building Society The Cheshire Building Society was a building society based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. It was the 11th largest building society in the United Kingdom based on total assets of £5 billion on 31 December 2007, prior to merging with the Na ...

, had agreed to a merger with the

, the largest such institution. The merger was borne out of increasing fears about the financial security of both the Derbyshire and the Cheshire societies with the former expected to post half-yearly losses of £17 million and the latter posting losses of £10.5 million. As a result of these projected losses no windfall payments were made to the savers of the smaller societies. Unusually there was no vote amongst members as to this proposition, after a special resolution under the

Building Societies Act Building Societies Act is a stock short title used in both Ireland and the United Kingdom for legislation relating to building societies. List Ireland *The Building Societies (Amendment) Act 2006 *The Building Societies Act 1989 *The Building S ...

enabling a faster merger. The deal was concluded on 1 December 2008 following agreement by the

Financial Services Authority The Financial Services Authority (FSA) was a quasi-judicial body accountable for the financial regulation, regulation of the financial services industry in the United Kingdom between 2001 and 2013. It was founded as the Securities and Investmen ...

and the

Office of Fair Trading The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) was a non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, which enforced both consumer protection and competition law, acting as the United Kingdom's economic ...

. Upon completion of the merger, the society's logo was again changed, this time removing the Peak District millstone image. In May 2013, it was announced that the Derbyshire, Cheshire and Dunfermline brands would be phased out over two years, and branches either rebranded under the Nationwide brand or closed.

History

See also