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384:. Once the Financial crisis took hold this had two negative consequences. Firstly, the business had been brought at a high cost, and due to the broader financial crisis, Sub Prime lending was effectively banned due to its high risk. Therefore, the purchase of Britannia Capital Securities did not provide the Society with the profit and return on the investment they had hoped for. Secondly, the customers who had already taken out sub prime loans and mortgages were essentially customers with previous credit issues and were more likely to default on loans than prime customers, especially during a
419:"Chelsea has an excellent reputation, particularly in the savings market, and a strong network of branches in the south. Combining forces with them will strengthen our ability to deliver value to members through good value products and excellent service, underpinned by our significant financial strength. Together, our combined expertise will deliver a competitive, member-owned organisation, which will provide real choice to consumers across the UK".
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Chelsea was first established in 1875 as the London & Camberwell
Building Society. Three years later, in 1878, the Borough of Chelsea Permanent Building Society was formed. Over the years both societies merged with smaller societies and on 31 December 1966 the two societies merged to create a new
410:
Due to the ongoing issues, the Chief
Executive, Richard Hornbrook, left the Society and a temporary Chief Executive, Stuart Bernau, was appointed in August 2009. His role was also to conduct a systematic review of Chelsea's future. The findings were announced to the press in the week beginning 30
414:
In comparison, for many years, Yorkshire had focused primarily on traditional lending and did not have as much exposure to the risks that
Chelsea did. With large reserves of liquidity, they were in a good financial position to acquire several Societies through mergers. Chelsea still had a strong
376:
drastically cut the Base Rate. This generally results in lenders reducing the rates they pay on their savings products and lowering the rates charged to borrowers. However, Chelsea had for several years focused on offering fixed-rate bonds to its savers. Many of them market-leading and regularly
377:
appearing in "best buys". On the one hand this helped the
Society to plan longer-term by securing money for a fixed period at a fixed rate. However some of these bonds were paying in excess of 6%, meaning due to the unforeseen cut in the Base Rate they were now costing Chelsea money.
208:. In January 2016, Yorkshire Building Society announced that seven of the Chelsea's branches would close, with the remainder rebranded as Yorkshire. This essentially means Chelsea is an online only brand and currently provides basic savings accounts and mortgage products.
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The merger completed on 1 April 2010. Shortly afterwards, Yorkshire announced the closure of
Chelsea's operational presence at the original Cheltenham Head Office in Thirlestaine Road by 2011, relocating the remaining staff to the second, smaller site at the former
395:
mortgage book which had been underwritten between 2006 and 2008. Although
Chelsea wasn't the only lender to be targeted by Buy to Let fraud, its lending criteria and poor due diligence on the properties it was loaning money on, had allowed it to take place.
399:
Although
Chelsea had made an underlying operating profit that year of £18m and the fraudulent loans did not necessarily equate to a £41m loss by writing off the fraudulent loans it caused the Society to report an overall loss for the second year running.
341:
In
January 2016, it was announced that seven of the Chelsea's branches would close by September, with the rest to be rebranded under the Yorkshire brand. Products and services under the Chelsea brand would continue to be available online and by telephone.
294:
In
February 2007 the society acquired Britannia Capital Securities, a medium-sized independent firm of secured loan and mortgage brokers operating in the UK, in order to further diversify their lending. The society remained operational during the
338:, known as Thirlestaine Park. Much of what Chelsea had constructed to accommodate its business needs was demolished and the Grade 2 listed Thirlestaine Hall was converted into luxury flats, with the copper-domed observatory preserved.
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Following the merger in 1966, the administrative headquarters were in
Streatham, with the registered office at 110 Kings Road, Chelsea. In 1973, having outgrown the accommodation at Streatham, the administrative headquarters moved to
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The second smaller Head Office site gradually reduced its staff as it transitioned functions to the Yorkshire Head Office in Bradford. The Charlton Kings offices were officially closed at the end of 2019. It was later sold to
429:
The boards of both Societies mutually agreed a merger would be beneficial to both Societies and recommended members approve the proposal, which they ultimately did, becoming effective on 1 April 2010.
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society with assets of £30 million. The new society was called the Chelsea and South London Building Society until April 1971 when the name was changed to Chelsea Building Society.
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318:. The following day they announced a formal merger. At a Special General Meeting in Bradford on 23 January 2010, Yorkshire Building Society members approved the merger proposal.
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intensified, several of Chelsea's weaknesses in its business model and risks that it had taken in preceding years began to affect the financial stability of the Society.
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reputation and was particularly attractive as it had an extensive branch network in the south of England, where in comparison, Yorkshire had only a minimal presence.
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and Chelsea Building Society that they were to merge. The merger between the Chelsea and the Catholic Building Society completed on 31 December 2008.
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in the United Kingdom, with assets in excess of £13 billion and 35 branches, mainly in the southern areas of England, particularly in London.
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November 2009, which ultimately recommended that a merger with Yorkshire would be in the best interests of the Society and its members.
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who downgraded their rating to "Baa3". This lower rating made it significantly more challenging for the Society to attract deposits.
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369:. While the amount involved was only a small percentage of assets, it represented almost one year's operating profit for Chelsea.
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In August 2009 it was revealed Chelsea had written off £41m in "potentially fraudulent loans", mainly from its
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On 10 October 2008, Chelsea revealed £55 million of its liquid assets (1.55%) were invested in the troubled
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The above issues caused confidence in the Society to fall, both with members and rating agencies such as
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388:. This was a long-term uncertainty that Chelsea had to take into consideration and make provisions for.
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In February 2007, Chelsea had brought Britannia Capital Securities to further develop its lending into
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In 2005 Chelsea opened a purpose-built customer contact centre close to the Head Office at the former
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193:. Chelsea merged with the Yorkshire in 2010, at which point Chelsea was the fourth largest
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639:"Buyers snap up apartments at former Chelsea Building Society premises in Gloucestershire"
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334:. The Thirlestaine Hall site was acquired in 2012 to build a gated housing estate and
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On 1 December 2009, Chelsea announced that it was in advanced merger talks with
291:" credentials. Its two offices in Cheltenham employed over eight hundred staff.
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Chelsea now forms part of the Yorkshire Building Society Group, alongside
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Iain Cornish, Previous Chief Executive - Yorkshire Building Society
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661:"Yorkshire Building Society announces branch closures and rebrand"
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683:"Spirax Sarco honours founder as it opens new Cheltenham office"
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A branch of the Chelsea in Bristol, displaying pre-YBS branding
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Yorkshire Building Society trading as Chelsea Building Society
861:"Yorkshire and Chelsea building societies complete merger"
909:
542:"The Chelsea and Yorkshire building societies may merge"
564:"Yorkshire and Chelsea building societies agree merger"
812:"Chelsea Building Society hit by £41m mortgage fraud"
299:, despite having no running water for several weeks.
260:. On 1 July 1988 Chelsea completed a merger with the
839:"Yorkshire and Chelsea building societies to merge"
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448:Building Societies Association - Asset List (PDF)
354:Factors leading to the merger with the Yorkshire
1480:Former building societies of the United Kingdom
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264:, with the name Chelsea remaining unaffected.
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685:. punchline-gloucester,co.uk. 5 August 2021
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586:"Chelsea Building Society merger approved"
310:Merger with the Yorkshire Building Society
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206:Norwich and Peterborough Building Society
723:"Chelsea Building Society Final Results"
372:In response to the Financial crisis the
302:On 7 June 2008 it was announced by both
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915:KPMG Building Societies Database 2008
819:from the original on 11 December 2022
704:Chelsea Press Release 10 October 2008
512:Chelsea Press Release 9 February 2007
350:who moved into the building in 2021.
325:Thirlestaine Hall and its copper dome
7:
863:. whatinvestment.co.uk. 1 April 2010
841:. theguardian.co.uk. 2 December 2009
641:. South West Business. 9 August 2013
68:31 December 1966 (current structure)
815:. Financial Times. 21 August 2009.
789:"£41m fraud hits building society"
770:Chelsea Press Release, August 2009
745:"£41M Fraud Hits Building Society"
617:National Heritage List for England
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1490:Organizations established in 1875
523:Chelsea Press Release 7 June 2008
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262:City of London Building Society
248:with a network of 35 branches.
1500:1875 establishments in England
976:Building Societies Association
910:Building Societies Association
725:. Investegate. 6 February 2008
332:Charlton Kings railway station
269:Charlton Kings railway station
242:Building Societies Association
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1495:Companies based in Cheltenham
1264:Louth, Mablethorpe and Sutton
981:Banking in the United Kingdom
612:"Thirlestaine Hall (1388140)"
494:Chelsea key facts and figures
360:Financial crisis of 2007–2008
271:as a commitment to keep its
92:Susan Allen, Chief Executive
663:. BBC News. 27 January 2016
588:. BBC News. 23 January 2010
566:. BBC News. 1 December 2009
544:. BBC News. 1 December 2009
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791:. BBC News. 21 August 2009
316:Yorkshire Building Society
297:2007 United Kingdom floods
220:Chelsea Building Society,
202:Yorkshire Building Society
183:Yorkshire Building Society
153:Yorkshire Building Society
1485:Banks established in 1875
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1284:National & Provincial
1099:Cheltenham and Gloucester
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528:21 September 2008 at the
304:Catholic Building Society
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926:Chelsea Building Society
775:16 December 2009 at the
474:Chelsea Building Society
348:Spirax-Sarco Engineering
179:Chelsea Building Society
1124:City & Metropolitan
709:14 October 2008 at the
499:30 January 2010 at the
244:and operated mainly in
240:It was a member of the
1144:Co-operative Permanent
1009:Alliance and Leicester
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279:awards for its use of
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222:North End Road, Fulham
966:of the United Kingdom
453:27 March 2009 at the
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181:is a trading name of
1369:Stroud & Swindon
1054:Bradford and Bingley
1044:Birmingham Midshires
928:at Wikimedia Commons
275:UK based, which won
1304:Nottingham Imperial
405:Moody's Corporation
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16:UK building society
1229:Ilkeston Permanent
1149:Coventry Provident
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246:South East England
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382:Sub Prime markets
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73:Headquarters
36:Company type
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1409:Walthamstow
1334:Scarborough
1249:Lancastrian
1159:Dunfermline
166:.thechelsea
1474:Categories
1389:Temperance
1349:St Pancras
1319:Portsmouth
1279:Mornington
1274:Mid Sussex
1269:Mercantile
1164:Eastbourne
1154:Derbyshire
795:24 January
729:24 January
667:27 January
592:24 January
570:1 December
548:1 December
436:References
393:Buy to Let
258:Cheltenham
117:Net income
88:Key people
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1404:Universal
1399:Tynemouth
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1189:Greenwich
1119:Chilterns
1069:Britannia
867:2 January
845:2 January
823:1 January
689:2 January
386:recession
336:care home
185:based in
109:Insurance
105:Mortgages
1448:Category
1429:Woolwich
1364:Standard
1344:Shepshed
1239:Ketley's
1194:Guardian
1114:Cheshunt
1109:Cheshire
1084:Catholic
1019:Barnsley
817:Archived
773:Archived
755:28 April
749:BBC News
707:Archived
645:10 April
526:Archived
497:Archived
451:Archived
422:—
224:, London
204:and the
187:Bradford
97:Products
51:Industry
1324:Regency
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1309:Peckham
1244:Lambeth
1199:Halifax
1184:Gateway
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1094:Chelsea
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1074:Burnley
1034:Bexhill
1024:Bedford
962:Former
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212:History
159:Website
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1014:Anglia
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869:2022
847:2022
825:2022
797:2010
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731:2010
691:2022
669:2016
647:2014
625:2018
594:2010
572:2009
550:2009
481:2018
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256:in
170:.uk
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164:www
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