What a great AGM.

Last night was our Annual General Meeting, which this year we held at the Duxford Imperial War Museum.
I have to admit to being slightly apprehensive as to the mood I would find our membership in, as to be fair the financial services sector has not exactly covered itself in glory in the last 12 months and recently the building society sector too has taken some flack over the Dunfermline issues.

As a breed, CEO’s in the finance industry are clearly not the most popular animal at present, in fact in the popularity poles we had risen to the top in the “disliked stakes” above even journalists and estate agents (no offence to any estate agents or journalists reading this). Therefore I needed in my mind an ice-breaker, so began my presentation with a statement of fact that Saffron made £24,001,115,000 more profit in 2008 that the Royal Bank of Scotland; not a statement that I ever expected to be able to make, but a fact none the less. I then provided an overview of the current UK economic climate and a review of our results for 2008, which seemed to be well received by the members.

Richard Herbert our Chairman then led us through the formal AGM, before handing back to me to finish with some insights into the results of our recent members survey and our plans to develop new product offerings to help loyal members in the current extremely low interest rate environment, followed by a robust Q&A session.

It is fair to say that members wanted reassurance about the longevity of the society and our ability to survive the recessionary storms, which we were confidently able to provide; and there was some robust questioning to the Chairman on executive pay packages, with assurance needed that these packages were designed to promote long term sustainability, not simply short term profit maximisation, which Richard Hebert happily shared.

After the formal meeting though, it was really nice for me and the Board to have time to chat to members about there views on the society and wider economy. I always find myself extremely proud to run a mutual with members who take an active interest in their society and for me the insight and feedback they provide really does help to shape what we do next.

One key theme that came through was a desire from members to receive personal notification when we change or launch a new product and whilst not cost effective to write to every one, I committed that we would create a register of email addresses and send an email to all those wanting to know about new initiatives as and when they happen. Anyone who would like to receive such updates, please simply send an email saying “please keep me up to date” to our marketing team marketing@saffronbs.co.uk and they will happily add you to the list.

I also enjoy an increasingly growing personal relationship with some of our members; I was surprised how many of the 70 plus attendees I knew by name or had spoken to or exchanged correspondence with over the last few years. For me this is what it’s all about; fulfilling my role of taking care of our members' money.

Finally it was Richard Herbert’s last AGM as he retired as Chairman last night, but it has been a pleasure working with Richard and he will certainly be missed in the boardroom. Peter Harrison, our current Vice Chair will take over as the successor at a Board meeting later this week, and will no doubt continue the diligent and prudent steerage of the board that Richard has provided over the last 6 years.