With the eventual news of Dunfermlines plight today I can't help thinking what a shame it is that Scotlands biggest building society could not survive on a standalone basis.
However in keeping with the history of the mutual sector looking after its own, it is great to know that the member business, branches and staff are all being taken on by Nationwide.
The press releases from the Bank of England and Nationwide allude to the issues centering around purchased commercial mortgage assets; but as we will almost certainly not see the awaited report and accounts now, we will not be able to get to the bottom of things. Whatever the issues were that caused the speculated losses and long term capital erosion it is likely that the risks were not fully understood at the point of aquisition.
All businesses take risk, this is what generates return, but our motto at Saffron is do not take risks you don't understand. If a business wonders about its skill set in relation to a particular risk, the chances are you don't have the skills.
I had lunch today with a journalist from a well known pink broadsheet and he was a little disapointed that the Dunfermline story was not really much of a story. The savings are safe, the brand and branches will remain, in fact from the members perspective it is business as usual. Good news for Dunfermline members and the good news for Saffron members is that we don't do commercial!
Monday, 30 March 2009
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Feed the positive dog!
CNN reported the other night that one-third of all Americans (and I would imagine the same applies over here) are losing sleep over the economy, 8 out of 10 people are stressed out, and an increasing number of people are turning to popping pills to deal with the stress and lack of sleep. While these pills may work in the short term, there is a better way. It's the secret weapon against stress, it doesn't cost a penny and it is only a thought away.
The answer is to feed the positive dog.
Here is a simple story about a man who travels to the village to speak to the wise man. He says to the wise man, "I feel like there are two dogs inside me. One dog is positive, loving, kind and optimistic and then I have this fearful, pessimistic, angry and negative dog and they fight all the time. I don't know who is going to win." The wise man thinks for a moment and responds, "I know who is going to win. The one you feed the most. So feed the positive dog."
The fact is we all have a positive and negative dog inside of us. It's part of our human nature. The key is to feed the positive dog and starve the negative dog. The more we feed the positive dog the bigger it gets and the stronger it becomes.
It is true there are times when nothing seems to go right and negativity can be a downward spiral, but taking time to think about what has worked, what we all have to be thankful for and what we can achieve if we put our minds to it, for me is time well spent.
Running a building society can be a roller coaster. We don’t always get things right and when I see a complaint from a customer I feel genuine pain, as it is really important for my own value set that we try our best to do the right thing. However each month we gather feedback from our customers and below are the comments we have received recently from customers who use our Saffron Direct contact centre.
Having read these comments, my positive dog is contented, on the rug in front of the fire, having just polished off a large Aberdeen Angus fillet steak…….What will you be feeding yours?
“When customer service becomes consistent it's then out of the ordinary... everyone is really impressive."
"I've been in contact with a number of your staff and colleagues... extremely impressed by how helpful, positive and friendly they've been... beyond the call of duty...
I have relationships with other banks and financial providers, I don't ever find them as helpful"
"A short note to say thank you for the excellent service you have provided in the past couple of days. You have shown a desire to follow matters through to a conclusion rather than just pass the issue around the system. You are a credit to Saffron and I trust this is reflected in your appraisal system."
"Thank you for prompt and comprehensive response. It is very refreshing to get such good service."
"Very Very many thanks for arranging this. It is terrific in the day and age of "rules" that cannot be broken just because "they are just rules" as another Society has done and caused me great inconvenience. Your flexibility and understanding is so refreshing."
"Thank you very much for your letter... and for your swift response. I am so relieved that the confusion has been quickly put right... Thank you, again. I am very pleased indeed with your service."
"Dear Mr Golding, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff of Saffron Building Society... Cherrelle of your Customer Services who took ownership of the slow moving problem and urgently chased through information... thank you"
"Throughout these difficult circumstances your employee acted in a very helpful and professional way, nothing was too much trouble... I would like to commend her to you!"
"I would like to say that dealing with Saffron has been a pleasure, especially when I have telephoned.. Thank you for your excellent service... You all seem to be such nice people there."
The answer is to feed the positive dog.
Here is a simple story about a man who travels to the village to speak to the wise man. He says to the wise man, "I feel like there are two dogs inside me. One dog is positive, loving, kind and optimistic and then I have this fearful, pessimistic, angry and negative dog and they fight all the time. I don't know who is going to win." The wise man thinks for a moment and responds, "I know who is going to win. The one you feed the most. So feed the positive dog."
The fact is we all have a positive and negative dog inside of us. It's part of our human nature. The key is to feed the positive dog and starve the negative dog. The more we feed the positive dog the bigger it gets and the stronger it becomes.
It is true there are times when nothing seems to go right and negativity can be a downward spiral, but taking time to think about what has worked, what we all have to be thankful for and what we can achieve if we put our minds to it, for me is time well spent.
Running a building society can be a roller coaster. We don’t always get things right and when I see a complaint from a customer I feel genuine pain, as it is really important for my own value set that we try our best to do the right thing. However each month we gather feedback from our customers and below are the comments we have received recently from customers who use our Saffron Direct contact centre.
Having read these comments, my positive dog is contented, on the rug in front of the fire, having just polished off a large Aberdeen Angus fillet steak…….What will you be feeding yours?
“When customer service becomes consistent it's then out of the ordinary... everyone is really impressive."
"I've been in contact with a number of your staff and colleagues... extremely impressed by how helpful, positive and friendly they've been... beyond the call of duty...
I have relationships with other banks and financial providers, I don't ever find them as helpful"
"A short note to say thank you for the excellent service you have provided in the past couple of days. You have shown a desire to follow matters through to a conclusion rather than just pass the issue around the system. You are a credit to Saffron and I trust this is reflected in your appraisal system."
"Thank you for prompt and comprehensive response. It is very refreshing to get such good service."
"Very Very many thanks for arranging this. It is terrific in the day and age of "rules" that cannot be broken just because "they are just rules" as another Society has done and caused me great inconvenience. Your flexibility and understanding is so refreshing."
"Thank you very much for your letter... and for your swift response. I am so relieved that the confusion has been quickly put right... Thank you, again. I am very pleased indeed with your service."
"Dear Mr Golding, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the staff of Saffron Building Society... Cherrelle of your Customer Services who took ownership of the slow moving problem and urgently chased through information... thank you"
"Throughout these difficult circumstances your employee acted in a very helpful and professional way, nothing was too much trouble... I would like to commend her to you!"
"I would like to say that dealing with Saffron has been a pleasure, especially when I have telephoned.. Thank you for your excellent service... You all seem to be such nice people there."
Monday, 23 March 2009
Is Scotland’s biggest building Society in trouble?
According to press reports the Dunfermline is on the brink of unveiling a significant financial loss, exposing another of Scotland’s financial institutions to the threat of a takeover.
The reports say that the 130-year-old mutual, which has about 240 staff, has been plunged into turmoil through its exposure to the beleaguered commercial property market.
It is understood the society will reveal an expected loss of about £26 million in the next few weeks, compared with a £2 million profit last year.
Sir Menzies Campbell, former leader of the Liberal Democrats and MP for North East Fife, said: "If the Dunfermline is taken over by a UK national institution, then it is another example of a Scottish bank finding it difficult to maintain its independence."
Its Scottish roots appear only to be a hindrance at the moment with speculation of following in the footsteps of Halifax Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland into some form of state ownership.
Will deposit customers be secure is a key question for most. In my view the government will not allow any UK depositor to lose money, this precedent has already been set with the treasury funding the Bradford and Bingley balances not covered by the Financial Services Compensation scheme limit of £50,000 and picking up the tab for un-protected balances in the failed Icelandic Banks.
Lots of people have already asked me if the rumours are true and of course I don’t know. However reading between the lines the Scotsman asked the Dunfermline if they stood by a pledge by Mr Dalziel (the previous Chief Executive) six months ago that the Dunfermline would remain "an independent mutual building society", a spokesperson replied: "Graeme is no longer here. That was his statement back then, not now. We are committed to remaining a mutual."
This tells me that Merger is on the cards or there is at least a requirement for them to raise more capital to survive and as a deposit-taking institution, the Dunfermline would potentially be eligible to apply for some of the government's bail-out schemes.
The commercial property market caught out several lenders in the recession of the early nineties and at the time drove a number of mergers at that time. I am thankful that Saffron has never really been pro-active in this area and consequently has less than 1% of its book in commercial assets. For Dunfermline’s sake I hope they can find a way to get through the current difficulties, to see another Scottish institution fail would be a real blow to Scotland, but I guess time will tell.
The reports say that the 130-year-old mutual, which has about 240 staff, has been plunged into turmoil through its exposure to the beleaguered commercial property market.
It is understood the society will reveal an expected loss of about £26 million in the next few weeks, compared with a £2 million profit last year.
Sir Menzies Campbell, former leader of the Liberal Democrats and MP for North East Fife, said: "If the Dunfermline is taken over by a UK national institution, then it is another example of a Scottish bank finding it difficult to maintain its independence."
Its Scottish roots appear only to be a hindrance at the moment with speculation of following in the footsteps of Halifax Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland into some form of state ownership.
Will deposit customers be secure is a key question for most. In my view the government will not allow any UK depositor to lose money, this precedent has already been set with the treasury funding the Bradford and Bingley balances not covered by the Financial Services Compensation scheme limit of £50,000 and picking up the tab for un-protected balances in the failed Icelandic Banks.
Lots of people have already asked me if the rumours are true and of course I don’t know. However reading between the lines the Scotsman asked the Dunfermline if they stood by a pledge by Mr Dalziel (the previous Chief Executive) six months ago that the Dunfermline would remain "an independent mutual building society", a spokesperson replied: "Graeme is no longer here. That was his statement back then, not now. We are committed to remaining a mutual."
This tells me that Merger is on the cards or there is at least a requirement for them to raise more capital to survive and as a deposit-taking institution, the Dunfermline would potentially be eligible to apply for some of the government's bail-out schemes.
The commercial property market caught out several lenders in the recession of the early nineties and at the time drove a number of mergers at that time. I am thankful that Saffron has never really been pro-active in this area and consequently has less than 1% of its book in commercial assets. For Dunfermline’s sake I hope they can find a way to get through the current difficulties, to see another Scottish institution fail would be a real blow to Scotland, but I guess time will tell.
No need for tax payer support of government guarantees caused quite a stir!
Last week Saffron was the first mortgage lender to declare that we would not be signing up to the government’s latest housing market initiative, the Homeowner Mortgage Support Scheme. There was not an intention on our part to snub the initiative, but having reviewed the 200 plus pages of documentation, our decision to opt-out was based on the following:
• The borrowers who qualify for the scheme will in our opinion be pretty few and far between, nationally, let alone amongst our 6,000 mortgage members
• The rules of the scheme from the customers perspective are quite prohibitive
• It would involve system changes and significant reporting back to the government, which I would suggest does not represent good value for money for our members bearing in mind that we may have only one or two borrowers who make the scheme hurdle
• Fundamentally we believe that all borrowers in difficulty should get fair and inclusive treatment
Therefore in a press release which we issued last Thursday I said:
“As a regional lender, with an expectation that very few of our borrowers would qualify for the scheme, we feel we would better serve our members by maintaining our excellent current processes. That isn’t to say that we believe the basis of the scheme to be wrong, in fact I commit that saffron will at least do all the things the scheme suggests for relevant borrowers in difficulty. But our duty is to serve our entire membership in a fair and appropriate way at a time when they need us, regardless of whether or not they qualify under a national scheme. In addition, opting out of the scheme allows us to continue operating independently of Government and taxpayers’ assistance - as a well-run, risk-averse business, we are proud to champion our self-sufficiency.”
This release was picked up by the Times on Friday and led to a pre-record for Working Lunch on BBC2 that day and a live interview on BBC Radio 5 Live in the evening. Throughout the process I could not really see too much comment disagreeing with the position we took, except for one comment from “Which” suggesting that the government force all lenders to adopt the scheme.
Well if this voluntary scheme becomes compulsory, of course we will embrace it, but in my opinion ministerial efforts would be better placed ensuring that all mortgage lenders treat all their borrowers in difficulty fairly and only repossess peoples homes as an absolute last resort. This should not involve the provision of lender government guarantees effectively provided by the tax payer, but should involve a high dose of common sense, pragmatism and empathetic treatment of borrowers.
• The borrowers who qualify for the scheme will in our opinion be pretty few and far between, nationally, let alone amongst our 6,000 mortgage members
• The rules of the scheme from the customers perspective are quite prohibitive
• It would involve system changes and significant reporting back to the government, which I would suggest does not represent good value for money for our members bearing in mind that we may have only one or two borrowers who make the scheme hurdle
• Fundamentally we believe that all borrowers in difficulty should get fair and inclusive treatment
Therefore in a press release which we issued last Thursday I said:
“As a regional lender, with an expectation that very few of our borrowers would qualify for the scheme, we feel we would better serve our members by maintaining our excellent current processes. That isn’t to say that we believe the basis of the scheme to be wrong, in fact I commit that saffron will at least do all the things the scheme suggests for relevant borrowers in difficulty. But our duty is to serve our entire membership in a fair and appropriate way at a time when they need us, regardless of whether or not they qualify under a national scheme. In addition, opting out of the scheme allows us to continue operating independently of Government and taxpayers’ assistance - as a well-run, risk-averse business, we are proud to champion our self-sufficiency.”
This release was picked up by the Times on Friday and led to a pre-record for Working Lunch on BBC2 that day and a live interview on BBC Radio 5 Live in the evening. Throughout the process I could not really see too much comment disagreeing with the position we took, except for one comment from “Which” suggesting that the government force all lenders to adopt the scheme.
Well if this voluntary scheme becomes compulsory, of course we will embrace it, but in my opinion ministerial efforts would be better placed ensuring that all mortgage lenders treat all their borrowers in difficulty fairly and only repossess peoples homes as an absolute last resort. This should not involve the provision of lender government guarantees effectively provided by the tax payer, but should involve a high dose of common sense, pragmatism and empathetic treatment of borrowers.
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Borrowing from the Government, underwritten by the FSA
Tomorrow, Lord Turner, Chairman of the FSA is due to announce a wide ranging package of changes for banking regulation following the near-collapse of the financial system.
According to recent leaks there will be proposals to limit how much banks and building societies can lend home buyers – restricting mortgages to just three times a buyer's annual salary and a suggested ban on 100% mortgages.
My head of mortgage underwriting at Saffron is outraged by these speculations, and quite rightly so in my opinion. Using the blunt tool of income multiple is an unreliable and quite frankly out dated method of assessment of someone’s ability to make mortgage repayments.
What of course must be taken into account is other financial commitments, as being human beings we do not all have the same circumstances.
One fairly well paid individual on say £60,000 a year could have no debts, a good chunk of savings behind them and limited other committed expenditure and it could be quite legitimate based on affordability to lend this person more than three times their annual salary. Another on the same income could have above average unsecured debt, maintenance from a previous relationship, an expensive car leasing premium and significant traveling costs to get to work all making affordability somewhat tighter.
There is a requirement on all lenders to be responsible, and using affordability calculators is just one way that we discharge that responsibility. I think the FSA should be ensuring that all lenders take their responsibility seriously rather than dictating the rules, which in my opinion does the opposite.
With a number of large mortgage lenders now in full or part government ownership and the regulator setting the rules for borrowing, we are in danger of losing the need to be responsible at all. We will all simply do as we are told and comply.
In my view a lot of the “bad loans” as often referred to by the media, were originated by specialist lenders with only one goal in mind, to sell the loans onto another party for a profit. It is this part of the market known by many as “create and trade” that has driven the problematic wedge through the banking sector, as the mortgage seller had no intention of having a long term relationship with the borrower and therefore relaxed criteria beyond common sense levels.
For the rest of us, who lend to people to buy their home, give them membership status of our societies, value their opinion and provide them the rights to have a say in how we run the business, it seem unreasonable that we will be forced to throw common sense, creativity and responsibility out of the window and simply do what the government or FSA says.
The worst affected as always will be the consumer. Yes we all want the financial services industry to do a better job, yes we want to be lent only what we can afford to repay, but if you stop and think for a moment, is one size fits all really what will do that?
According to recent leaks there will be proposals to limit how much banks and building societies can lend home buyers – restricting mortgages to just three times a buyer's annual salary and a suggested ban on 100% mortgages.
My head of mortgage underwriting at Saffron is outraged by these speculations, and quite rightly so in my opinion. Using the blunt tool of income multiple is an unreliable and quite frankly out dated method of assessment of someone’s ability to make mortgage repayments.
What of course must be taken into account is other financial commitments, as being human beings we do not all have the same circumstances.
One fairly well paid individual on say £60,000 a year could have no debts, a good chunk of savings behind them and limited other committed expenditure and it could be quite legitimate based on affordability to lend this person more than three times their annual salary. Another on the same income could have above average unsecured debt, maintenance from a previous relationship, an expensive car leasing premium and significant traveling costs to get to work all making affordability somewhat tighter.
There is a requirement on all lenders to be responsible, and using affordability calculators is just one way that we discharge that responsibility. I think the FSA should be ensuring that all lenders take their responsibility seriously rather than dictating the rules, which in my opinion does the opposite.
With a number of large mortgage lenders now in full or part government ownership and the regulator setting the rules for borrowing, we are in danger of losing the need to be responsible at all. We will all simply do as we are told and comply.
In my view a lot of the “bad loans” as often referred to by the media, were originated by specialist lenders with only one goal in mind, to sell the loans onto another party for a profit. It is this part of the market known by many as “create and trade” that has driven the problematic wedge through the banking sector, as the mortgage seller had no intention of having a long term relationship with the borrower and therefore relaxed criteria beyond common sense levels.
For the rest of us, who lend to people to buy their home, give them membership status of our societies, value their opinion and provide them the rights to have a say in how we run the business, it seem unreasonable that we will be forced to throw common sense, creativity and responsibility out of the window and simply do what the government or FSA says.
The worst affected as always will be the consumer. Yes we all want the financial services industry to do a better job, yes we want to be lent only what we can afford to repay, but if you stop and think for a moment, is one size fits all really what will do that?
Saturday, 14 March 2009
Why can't the media be accurate?
Following a meeting out of the office yesterday, I found myself home somewhat earlier that usual. I was therefore able to catch the 6-30 local news and settled down to watch BBC Look East.
There was an interesting piece on the Stansted Airport expansion plans, which is right in our heartland, so is a key local issues for Essex residents and this was followed by an item about mortgage fraud, which of course had me glued.
I was simply apoplectic with what I heard and saw on this article and have today written to the BBC with my views. A copy of my note is below:
Dear Sir
I was amazed and dismayed by the inaccuracy of a report on last nights Look East news, regarding the investigation into a potential fraud ring surrounding Ipswich properties and Bradford and Bingley.
Firstly the item talked about the "Building Society" and the mechanics of how the fraud may have worked and secondly the reporter whilst stood outside a Bradford and Bingley Branch said "it is the tax payer who has had to bail out the Building Society.
In this difficult financial time, brand confusion is not simply inaccurate, but actually potential sector damaging. I would like to point out a few facts:
1. Bradford and Bingley has been a shareholder owned bank since 2000
2. No Building Society has ever been "bailed out" by the tax payer
3. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme actually funded the liabilities for Bradford and Bingley when it collapsed and that is paid for by remaining deposit taking institutions, one of which I run.
As a proud CEO of a mutual Building Society I find this type of careless reporting unacceptable. Building Societies on the whole run much less risky business models than banks, particularly those that have required peer group or government rescue and therefore, for obvious reasons the distinction between the 2 sectors is of paramount importance.
I am happy to comment further on this matter and I would be grateful to receive your comments in response to this e-mail.
Yours faithfully
Andy Golding
Chief Executive
Saffron Building Society
There was an interesting piece on the Stansted Airport expansion plans, which is right in our heartland, so is a key local issues for Essex residents and this was followed by an item about mortgage fraud, which of course had me glued.
I was simply apoplectic with what I heard and saw on this article and have today written to the BBC with my views. A copy of my note is below:
Dear Sir
I was amazed and dismayed by the inaccuracy of a report on last nights Look East news, regarding the investigation into a potential fraud ring surrounding Ipswich properties and Bradford and Bingley.
Firstly the item talked about the "Building Society" and the mechanics of how the fraud may have worked and secondly the reporter whilst stood outside a Bradford and Bingley Branch said "it is the tax payer who has had to bail out the Building Society.
In this difficult financial time, brand confusion is not simply inaccurate, but actually potential sector damaging. I would like to point out a few facts:
1. Bradford and Bingley has been a shareholder owned bank since 2000
2. No Building Society has ever been "bailed out" by the tax payer
3. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme actually funded the liabilities for Bradford and Bingley when it collapsed and that is paid for by remaining deposit taking institutions, one of which I run.
As a proud CEO of a mutual Building Society I find this type of careless reporting unacceptable. Building Societies on the whole run much less risky business models than banks, particularly those that have required peer group or government rescue and therefore, for obvious reasons the distinction between the 2 sectors is of paramount importance.
I am happy to comment further on this matter and I would be grateful to receive your comments in response to this e-mail.
Yours faithfully
Andy Golding
Chief Executive
Saffron Building Society
Tuesday, 10 March 2009
Don't eat the marshmallow yet...
A book by Joachim de Posada which has already sold over 2 million copies caught my eye this week. It is likely to go on selling as it teaches the "sweet" secret of success.
The book begins with a Stanford study in which a young child was put inside a room with a marshmallow. The teacher told the student if she didn't eat the marshmallow for 15 minutes, she'd get another one.
Then the teacher left the room.
Upon returning the teacher discovered that MOST of the kids ate the marshmallow. BUT those who didn't - when tracked over many years, turned out more successful than everyone else.
Wonder why?
Well, it wasn't because they were smarter, prettier, had better genes or were more skilled. It was due to one thing: The ability to delay gratification a bit longer than anyone else.
Each morning, when you get up, do you 'eat the marshmallow' - metaphorically speaking? Do you do the easy thing first?
Or do you do that which will bring greater prosperity your way?
Each month, when you receive payment for work performed, do you pay yourself first and put at least 10% of all you earn away?
Or do you eat the marshmallow and pay everyone but yourself, first, so there's never anything left for yourself?
In the evening, do you eat the marshmallow by watching hour after hour of television - or talking on the phone with friends to gossip about the day?
Or do you save the marshmallow by reading, writing or working a plan to get ahead and stay ahead?
When it comes to learning something new, do you invest in products that will help you increase your economic situation, or do you eat the marshmallow by blowing your money on food and entertainment.
The UK population, government and banks have in recent years been wolfing down the marshmallow at uncontrollable speed; it may just now be time to wait. The economy will sort itself out, and quantitative easing may help. My real concern is that upping the production of marshmallows (or printing money as QE is often likened to) may have the effect of devaluing marshmallows – or in real term the pound sterling.
The book begins with a Stanford study in which a young child was put inside a room with a marshmallow. The teacher told the student if she didn't eat the marshmallow for 15 minutes, she'd get another one.
Then the teacher left the room.
Upon returning the teacher discovered that MOST of the kids ate the marshmallow. BUT those who didn't - when tracked over many years, turned out more successful than everyone else.
Wonder why?
Well, it wasn't because they were smarter, prettier, had better genes or were more skilled. It was due to one thing: The ability to delay gratification a bit longer than anyone else.
Each morning, when you get up, do you 'eat the marshmallow' - metaphorically speaking? Do you do the easy thing first?
Or do you do that which will bring greater prosperity your way?
Each month, when you receive payment for work performed, do you pay yourself first and put at least 10% of all you earn away?
Or do you eat the marshmallow and pay everyone but yourself, first, so there's never anything left for yourself?
In the evening, do you eat the marshmallow by watching hour after hour of television - or talking on the phone with friends to gossip about the day?
Or do you save the marshmallow by reading, writing or working a plan to get ahead and stay ahead?
When it comes to learning something new, do you invest in products that will help you increase your economic situation, or do you eat the marshmallow by blowing your money on food and entertainment.
The UK population, government and banks have in recent years been wolfing down the marshmallow at uncontrollable speed; it may just now be time to wait. The economy will sort itself out, and quantitative easing may help. My real concern is that upping the production of marshmallows (or printing money as QE is often likened to) may have the effect of devaluing marshmallows – or in real term the pound sterling.
Thursday, 5 March 2009
Interest rates down, carbon footprint – not sure!
Today was a rather strange day, following a phone conversation I have with ITN’s Chris Choi yesterday afternoon. He wanted to get a view on falling interest rates from someone in the savings and lending industry and I gladly agreed to help.
I was already due in London today for meetings in the West End, so offered to go to the ITN studios or even use the Building Society Association or Council of Mortgage Lenders offices, both of which are in Holborn in central London; but Chris said he was fed up with faceless corporate backdrops and suggested that the crew came to our branch in Stratford, East London, to give the interview a more realistic feel. We agreed to meet there at 9-30am today.
For some time now I have been trying to reduce my carbon footprint and therefore endeavour to make use of public transport when ever practical. So at 6-30am today I set off in my car (oops) to Milton Keynes train station which is about 14 miles from home and boarded a Virgin train to London Euston. The train was pretty full, so I am sure that was more energy efficient that making the whole journey by car.
However when I arrive at Euston, my problem begins. I am a bit claustrophobic and haven’t been able to use the tube since 1989, when I had to run for the surface feeling somewhat panicked. I have tried a few times, but get the same reaction. Therefore needing to get to Stratford would involve either several bus changes or the inevitable black cab. Feeling a little guilty, but also not wanting to be late for the important ITN interview, I hailed a cab and requested he take me to Stratford. The request was met with some sucking of air through teeth and a few moans about the roads round there due to the building of the Olympic village, but we set off promptly in an Easterly direction. I arrived at our Stratford offices in plenty of time, time in fact for my nervousness levels to rise nicely in preparation for a hard hitting haul over the interest rate coals by an expert journalist.
The staff in the branch had made a special effort, some new mugs to serve the crew coffee and even some biscuits, they had polished everything in the branch that could be and seemed almost as nervous as me. As it happened the ITN team were really nice and we had a good debate about the state of economy before commencing the interview. They probably shot a good twenty minutes of insider intelligent insights (at least I think they were) on why reducing rates today is a bad idea, and how it will hurt savers even more, whilst doing not much at all to encourage banks and building societies to lend more, let alone create sudden market demand that seem to have all but vanished. (My wife recorded the lunch time news and I only ended up with about 20 seconds, but hey!)
Relatively pleased with my performance, I bid the Stratford branch staff farewell and set about getting to Carnaby Street for my next meeting. Determined not to use a cab and not able to use a tube, I walked to Stratford station and took the Docklands Light Railway to Canary Wharf. From there I walked the Canary Riverside and took the commuter ferry to Embankment Pier, I walked up to the front of Charing Cross train station and hopped on a bus in the direction of Oxford Circus, jumped off in Regent Street and walked to my meeting in Carnaby Street.
So I have in one day experienced every possible mode of transport to get into and around in London, except the tube. So was this method more environmentally friendly than simply driving straight into London, or making use of another cab to get from Stratford to the West End.
The DLR train was practically empty, I counted 6 other passengers on the huge river ferry and I had the whole top deck of the bus to myself. It did however give me time to contemplate the reaction to a potential move in base rate and at 12.01pm my blackberry chimed with news of the 0.5% cut. I am glad the Bank of England have announced plans to commence quantitative easing, but as I told ITN, I still don’t think the further cut in base rate was required.
I was already due in London today for meetings in the West End, so offered to go to the ITN studios or even use the Building Society Association or Council of Mortgage Lenders offices, both of which are in Holborn in central London; but Chris said he was fed up with faceless corporate backdrops and suggested that the crew came to our branch in Stratford, East London, to give the interview a more realistic feel. We agreed to meet there at 9-30am today.
For some time now I have been trying to reduce my carbon footprint and therefore endeavour to make use of public transport when ever practical. So at 6-30am today I set off in my car (oops) to Milton Keynes train station which is about 14 miles from home and boarded a Virgin train to London Euston. The train was pretty full, so I am sure that was more energy efficient that making the whole journey by car.
However when I arrive at Euston, my problem begins. I am a bit claustrophobic and haven’t been able to use the tube since 1989, when I had to run for the surface feeling somewhat panicked. I have tried a few times, but get the same reaction. Therefore needing to get to Stratford would involve either several bus changes or the inevitable black cab. Feeling a little guilty, but also not wanting to be late for the important ITN interview, I hailed a cab and requested he take me to Stratford. The request was met with some sucking of air through teeth and a few moans about the roads round there due to the building of the Olympic village, but we set off promptly in an Easterly direction. I arrived at our Stratford offices in plenty of time, time in fact for my nervousness levels to rise nicely in preparation for a hard hitting haul over the interest rate coals by an expert journalist.
The staff in the branch had made a special effort, some new mugs to serve the crew coffee and even some biscuits, they had polished everything in the branch that could be and seemed almost as nervous as me. As it happened the ITN team were really nice and we had a good debate about the state of economy before commencing the interview. They probably shot a good twenty minutes of insider intelligent insights (at least I think they were) on why reducing rates today is a bad idea, and how it will hurt savers even more, whilst doing not much at all to encourage banks and building societies to lend more, let alone create sudden market demand that seem to have all but vanished. (My wife recorded the lunch time news and I only ended up with about 20 seconds, but hey!)
Relatively pleased with my performance, I bid the Stratford branch staff farewell and set about getting to Carnaby Street for my next meeting. Determined not to use a cab and not able to use a tube, I walked to Stratford station and took the Docklands Light Railway to Canary Wharf. From there I walked the Canary Riverside and took the commuter ferry to Embankment Pier, I walked up to the front of Charing Cross train station and hopped on a bus in the direction of Oxford Circus, jumped off in Regent Street and walked to my meeting in Carnaby Street.
So I have in one day experienced every possible mode of transport to get into and around in London, except the tube. So was this method more environmentally friendly than simply driving straight into London, or making use of another cab to get from Stratford to the West End.
The DLR train was practically empty, I counted 6 other passengers on the huge river ferry and I had the whole top deck of the bus to myself. It did however give me time to contemplate the reaction to a potential move in base rate and at 12.01pm my blackberry chimed with news of the 0.5% cut. I am glad the Bank of England have announced plans to commence quantitative easing, but as I told ITN, I still don’t think the further cut in base rate was required.
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Midas lost his touch...
Following the announcement of Northern Rocks results yesterday (£1.4 Billion Loss), my Sales & Marketing Director John Eastgate brought me in a copy of a news clipping from the day he got married. 4th April 1996.
Rock of Gold was the headline and the story was all about the potential £1,000 windfalls that savers and borrowers could receive following its announcement the previous day that it planned to become a bank.
I was particularly drawn to a section in the article that read: “Many analysts believe it is too small to survive independently, But Chairman Robert Dickinson said his board would not consider any approaches – even though a takeover could mean bigger windfalls. In fact Northern Rock, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, said it could take over others and the spotlight immediately fell on the Newcastle Building Society.”
Ironic really, Northern Rock has always had an air of arrogance about it, and it was in my view, in part that arrogance that led it to run out of funding and eventually be forced to seek a rescue partner in the form of the UK Government/tax payer.
Newcastle Building Society Still stands firm as Mutual Building Society over 12 years later, whilst the Rock and every other building society that became a bank have to all intents and purposes gone:
Report and accounts for Northern Rock:
http://companyinfo.northernrock.co.uk/downloads/2008_annual_report.pdf
Rock of Gold was the headline and the story was all about the potential £1,000 windfalls that savers and borrowers could receive following its announcement the previous day that it planned to become a bank.
I was particularly drawn to a section in the article that read: “Many analysts believe it is too small to survive independently, But Chairman Robert Dickinson said his board would not consider any approaches – even though a takeover could mean bigger windfalls. In fact Northern Rock, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, said it could take over others and the spotlight immediately fell on the Newcastle Building Society.”
Ironic really, Northern Rock has always had an air of arrogance about it, and it was in my view, in part that arrogance that led it to run out of funding and eventually be forced to seek a rescue partner in the form of the UK Government/tax payer.
Newcastle Building Society Still stands firm as Mutual Building Society over 12 years later, whilst the Rock and every other building society that became a bank have to all intents and purposes gone:
Report and accounts for Northern Rock:
http://companyinfo.northernrock.co.uk/downloads/2008_annual_report.pdf
Monday, 2 March 2009
Who is Bob and how can he help me?
Saving money is a long standing and arguably very sensible habit, but sometimes the most sensible of things can be a bit boring!
Over the years all sorts of methods have been invented; from jam jars to piggy banks and we have all used them in different ways. About 18 months ago My FD Jon Hall and I were on the till in our Great Dunmow branch, an activity that senior management here are encouraged to do from time to time, as it gives us a great opportunity to meet our customers and find out how well, or not the society is doing in our members minds. A lady came in that day with about half a dozen different account passbooks, each one with sticker identifying what that particular savings pot was for. One for holidays, one for kids, one for emergency bills, one for clothes ….. you get the idea. I asked her why she did this; she simply wanted to allocate various savings to various goals and keep them separate in an easily manageable way.
This got us thinking and as we already had some consumer research on savings underway, this concept was thrown into the pot. The research which ran over a series of events, including a facebook style online community of over 300 people, all pointed us in one direction. It is easier to save money when you have a specific goal in mind.
Goals were the key, but other things shone through that would help. The use of modern technology to make managing the goals more straight forward, the ability to personalise your savings accounts to match goals, it should be fun and include some hints, tips and motivation. These insights and a whole bunch of other feedback led us to create Bob.
Bob fronts our new goal based savings tool, which anyone can use for free from our website. He and his helpers with assist with amongst other things, budgeting, creation and management of your personal goals and providing that little extra motivation to stretch yourself to achieve those goals as soon as you want to.
We also provide a series of savings “pots” that name each of your goals and keep the funds for each one separate, but all viewable in one place, through our internet savings account.
Bob and his team will continue to evolve as we get more ideas and feedback, feel free to join him on that journey.
So saving may be traditional and sensible, but at Saffron we also think it is pretty cool! I think the current recession has taught the UK something about the buy today pay tomorrow culture and maybe, just maybe, we will get back to some of those sensible habits and with Bob to help, maybe we can have some fun doing it too.
To see Bob, visit www.moneytree.saffronbs.co.uk/savingsmanager
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