Local services for local people have been much maligned in recent times as organisations have strived for global presence and economies of scale. For Ipswich Building Society however, the philosophy is one held very dear, and especially by chief executive John Whayman – who has been with the mutual since 1967.
Whayman was keen to get into financial services from an early age as school did not appeal, and he left before sitting his A-levels. He says: “I moved to Ipswich when I was about 14-years-old from a very small grammar school in Cambridge. I was not that happy at school and left after the fifth year and wanted to get into banking. As a short-term measure I went into an accountant’s office and in 1967 a job came up at Ipswich Building Society. There were only 14 people working for us at that stage with just one head office branch, so it was very much a small organisation. I have been here ever since and watched the society go from strength to strength.”
With more than 35 years of experience at Ipswich, Whayman feels it has helped him guide the society forward. He explains: “We tend to forget the borrower very often in certain situations. The big organisations are very much looking for profit and shareholder value and so profits come first and the borrower comes a short second. Having started at the bottom talking to clients and learning what they liked and how to treat them, it has been easier to ensure that ethos has been carried out throughout the years. It is not only about being a customer organisation in words, but also in action.”
Many high street lender executives extol the virtues of client service, but by being smaller the task for Ipswich is at least more manageable – if not less difficult. The fact that 100% customer satisfaction is something that has been talked about as a possible goal gives an idea of the amount of complaints the society receives, although Whayman is realistic enough to understand that a service-driven organisation can always do better.
While such an extended career at the building society has its advantages, there are also many changes that have to be taken on board – and adapting accordingly has been key for much of its success. Whayman says: “The biggest problem for someone of my generation who has been in the organisation for so long is the amount of change. When you look back you have to say there was no internal audit, compliance was not even a word that had been invented – and operational risk was more to do with having your tonsils out. Now they are very important issues in the organisation and they have to be considered very carefully.”
Like everyone else in the mortgage industry, Whayman has had his sights keenly focused on the calendar, and particularly the 31 October when Financial Services Authority regulation will become a reality. It will mean many changes for the society, but also for Whayman, who has prided himself on being very much a client-facing member of staff.
He says: “The idea that from the 1 November I have to be very careful about anything I say to someone about a mortgage, I find very foreign. I used to be able to talk to whoever I liked about mortgage business. If you were to walk in here and talk about a mortgage I would have been very happy to do that. At the end of the day I would still get the expert to take care of the details, but I am going to lose that ability to have those conversations with clients I have been dealing with for years. Clients still phone me up but not as much as they used to or I would like them to, but as the job changes you have to accept the changes that come along.”
Recently, one of the major changes at Ipswich has been the relocation of its head office in the town centre, to larger premises a little further out. The move has brought the administration staff back together for the first time in many years, and will help enforce the idea of a team that Whayman says is crucial to a mutual business. He says: “When I started there was 14 staff so you really are a team. One of the big advantages of moving into our new offices is that we are bringing together our administrative staff again. For the last 24 years they have been in two locations and that can be difficult – it is already making a difference.” In terms of administration, Ipswich has also set up a call centre to ensure that clients and brokers are directed to the right place as quickly as possible. Whayman hopes this will ensure a better service, and that the society’s size will not mean callers are left holding in the ether.
He explains: “One of the things we have done in the move is to introduce two hotline numbers. One of which is for brokers and others seeking mortgages, who will be directed to the appropriate mortgage application department. The other is the general number for members. We have set up a call centre in Ipswich – not in India – with our people who understand our business and who answer the calls. The idea is rather than having a switchboard and people being pushed around, we will have five staff taking calls and be able to deal with them there and then.”
How many more staff will be needed remains to be seen. Ipswich has eight branches, all based in either East Anglia or Essex and seems unlikely to extend its physical presence out with that area. The first branch opened in 1979, at a time when competition with the high street banks was not so fierce as it is today.
Whayman says: “As we are a local society it is much more difficult to open offices further afield. The reason for that is going back to the 1970s the banks were giving deposits to building societies. They did not actually want deposits and they certainly did not want mortgage business. Now you have the banks in the high street with the likes of HBOS, Abbey, HSBC and Barclays, and they are all out there trying to do our business. To go into a large town at some distance from our core market would prove very difficult in terms of establishing ourselves. The competition for both mortgage and investment business is much tougher than it was and our strength, particularly on the investment side is being local, even though we have some great products which attract national attention from time to time.”
Attracting national attention for products can be a problem in terms of servicing, and Whayman is keen that a close eye is kept on the volumes coming in. However, he has established Ipswich as a panel member on some of the network propositions coming into play post regulation, to ensure the mutual will not be relying purely on the smaller adviser in the market, for the 50% of its business that comes through the intermediated channel.
He says: “We are going to be on a number of panels as we feel that relying on small advisers and not talking to panels could be a dangerous option. That is not to say that the smaller advisers will not survive. We do not know and we are going into a period of uncertainty and we thought it would be best to sort out arrangements across the market.”
Ipswich will also continue to buy in books of business, especially in areas such as light adverse which afford it slightly greater margins, and will provide it valuable revenue to help reward members further. Not having to originate the business is a great benefit to the society and Whayman expects further such purchases to remain a part of the future strategy. Unlike other societies, Ipswich does not operate a subsidiary to mange these acquired portfolios, and borrowers that come to the mutual by way of such an acquisition enjoy member status.
Whayman does not give the impression of having ever taken the easy option for Ipswich under his stewardship, and it has certainly changed immensely since the 1960s. How it and the industry will look in another three decades is anybody’s guess.
