myEyebrows were raised just over a year ago when Stuart Haire left HSBC, where he ran UK personal and private banking, to become chief executive of Skipton Building Society.
He was very close to the top of the global giant's star executive table, having held senior roles at M&S Bank, First Direct and John Lewis Financial Services, as well as HSBC UK. Compared to the mighty HSBC, Skipton was seen as something of a backwater. He smiles and nods when this reaction is posed. He remembers it well.
Here he is, however, at 49 years old and just presented an impressive set of annual results, with a performance that would make any financial powerhouse proud. She laughs at the memory. “What people don't realize is that if we demutualize – and we're not going to do that – Skipton would go straight into the FTSE 100 of the largest listed companies.”
Theirs is an organization with £37.2bn of total assets, over 1,300 branches and 1.2m members.
In addition to the main building society business, Skipton owns Connells, Britain's largest estate agency with over 80 major brands including Hamptons, Bairstow Eves, William H. Brown and Connells. He is responsible for one in ten homes bought and sold in the UK. Skipton also has a financial advisory subsidiary, a commercial real estate agency and an artificial intelligence software company in New Zealand. “We have a variety of interesting businesses, that was part of the attraction,” Haire says. “We have very solid businesses and we have no shareholders; We only have clients who are our owners. It's a breath of fresh air”.
The group made pre-tax profits of £333.4m, an increase of more than £30m. Mortgage advances rose 6.3 per cent to £6.7bn, helping Skipton increase its market share by 12.7 per cent, despite the mortgage market being stagnant for most of the year. anus.
Savings balances also increased, by 15.4 per cent to £26 billion. Once again, the savings market share increased, by 10.7 percent. This is also in the face of a savings market that grew by only 1.7 percent.
Mortgage arrears of three months or more were 0.23 per cent, compared to an industry average of 0.91 per cent.
It may be 170 years old and still based in picturesque Skipton, North Yorkshire, but the society has long earned a reputation for innovation. Haire is keen to continue this, launching the only deposit-free mortgage available in Britain, Track Record. He is rightly proud to have increased the number of first-time buyers receiving help by 40 per cent. Track Record received more than £62 million in applications.
It is truly deposit free. “If you can demonstrate that you are paying rent and your mortgage payments will be lower, then you are likely to receive a mortgage offer. “We want to help people who don’t have any capital saved up, we want to help them get started as homeowners.”
It also introduced Income Booster, which allows more than one person's income to go toward the purchase of a home. Once again, with the aim of giving first-time buyers a boost.
He has focused Skipton on two mottos: houses and money. “There are too many people in the UK who desperately feel they will never have a home of their own. Whether they are aspiring owners or tenants. And that needs to change.
“Houses and money are vital to individual prosperity and for our country to prosper. The Skipton Group sits at the nexus between homes and money, and we want to drive collaborative change across the UK property sector, to help more people establish these stable foundations and help unlock opportunities and create financial wellbeing for all. long term. at home, all over Britain.”
He wants zoning laws to be relaxed and the entire process to be sped up. “We have the largest estate agency in the UK. “As a country, we need more houses.”
For first-time buyers, some areas are prohibitively expensive and, in places like Skipton, there is additional pressure from second home owners. “It's not just about the financial aspects, local and central governments have to do more. “We need to do more with planning permission, we need to make sure more homes are built and in places where people want to live.”
Last year, Skipton became Which? Recommended mortgage provider. It was awarded Your Mortgage – Best Mortgage Lender for First Time Buyers, as well as being named, at the What Mortgage Awards 2023, Best National Building Society for the tenth year running.
“Looking ahead, our ambition is to make a positive impact on tackling the UK housing crisis by enabling more first-time buyers to realize their home ownership aspirations.”
Skipton, he says, “has great potential to drive transformative change in the property market and financial services industry, harnessing our collective ability to drive change, influence decision-makers and campaign on the issues that matter to our people.” members and society in general.”
Savers are not forgotten. “We are supporting our savers by passing on more than 75 percent of the 2023 base rate increases, which is above our competitors, while even our lowest rate on an instant access account is well above the market average”.
Saving members received £148 million more in interest than if they had opted for savings products at the mid-market interest rate. They were able to take advantage of “members only” offers.
“What attracted me to Skipton is its unwavering member-focused purpose and huge potential to help more people.”
Skipton Building Society offers Britain's only deposit-free mortgage
(PENNSYLVANIA)
He says Skipton is a society that has always believed in keeping things simple, with no frills. It's in the DNA. “His roots are here in Yorkshire. We are a large local employer and we ensure that one per cent of our profits go to charity. “We are very aware of our history and responsibility.”
Haire himself is from Glasgow: “a Glasgow bastard is how they see me in this area,” he jokes. “I was always taught to never get ahead of myself, to never let my ego get in my way. This also applies to the people of Yorkshire. “They work exceptionally hard and are very proud.”
In the coming year, he expects rates to remain high. “They will go down, but not as much.”
He predicts “low growth” for the economy. “We are starting to see confidence returning. There are signs of real green shoots. In the real estate market, mortgage applications increased by 14 percent, visits increased by 12 percent and sales increased by 12 percent. Confidence is returning.”
Unlike HSBC, as you might imagine, Skipton has given it a mission and purpose.
