Gainsborough BS and Organstone Permanent BS are the latest building societies that have been forced...
Gainsborough BS and Organstone Permanent BS are the latest building societies that have been forced to merge with larger societies due to increasing financial pressure.
Mergers are becoming so common among the smaller players that Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) has conducted a study looking at other options to prevent consolidation.
Stephen Thomas, director of PwC Consulting, said if build-ing societies share back- office systems, smaller societies could lower costs, improve customer service and keep their independence.
But with N3 around the corner, could extra compliance costs sound the death bell for the UK’s smaller societies and force them out of the mortgage market altogether?
