Nationwide celebrates 50th anniversary

One of the most recognisable names on Britain’s high streets celebrates its 50th anniversary this week.

The Co-operative Permanent Building Society rebranded as the Nationwide Building Society on September 16, 1970.

The mutual – it is owned by its customers, rather than shareholders – had a million members at the time of its rebrand. Today, 15 million people borrow from and save with the Swindon-headquartered company.

The world’s largest building society – which can trace its own roots back to the Northampton Town & County Freehold Land Society, founded in 1848 – is the result of over a hundred mergers.

The most notable of those are its merger with Anglia Building Society in 1987, and Portman Building Society – formerly the Ramsbury building society – in 2007.

When the nationwide name started to appear on Britain’s high streets in 1970 the average house price at £4,452, and the average earnings were £5,302.

“As a building society we have been serving our members for generations – and this week we celebrate 50 years since we changed our name to Nationwide,” Sara Kinsey, head of historical archives at Nationwide.

“The world has changed immensely since then but, despite those changes, we continue to do our best to support local communities right across the country, including here in Swindon.”

Today, the building society has more than 700 branches and employs over 18,000 people – with more than 12,000 employees working in Swindon.