Yorkshire pledges support for borrowers
YORKSHIRE Building Society has pledged to support its existing borrowers during the current uncertainty in financial markets.
Chief executive Iain Cornish told members at the society’s Annual General Meeting this week: “We are contacting borrowers well in advance of their mortgage deal coming to an end, giving them plenty of time to prepare for any increase in payments. We guarantee to offer all borrowers an alternative to our Standard
Variable Rate, even if we no longer have a new business deal available for which they qualify.”
Mr Cornish spoke after members backed all the resolutions at the AGM, held at the society’s head office in Bradford.
Each resolution received more than 90% support from voting members.
Mr Cornish said: “I am pleased with the results of resolutions put to our members. For many years our strategy has been to deliver value to members by providing savings, mortgages and other financial products that offer long term good value and build lasting relationships with our members. Our AGM results, together with our continuous customer satisfaction surveys, confirm that our members believe Yorkshire has delivered this.”
He added: “We will be working just as hard to go on offering excellent value, on a fair and sustainable basis, to our savers in what is already a far more competitive market.”
The society made a charitable donation of 15p for every one of the 158,000 votes returned, increasing to 25p if members voted online or returned their voting form to a branch.
As a result the Society’s Charitable Foundation funds have been boosted by £25,000. In 2007, the Foundation donated more than £340,000 to 1,350 local charities and good causes.
Meanwhile, Yorkshire Building Society has appointed Indira Thambiah as a new non-executive director.
Ms Thambiah has worked with Asda Walmart in a number of roles including setting up Asda’s online operation and also developing effective sourcing solutions to achieve huge savings in running costs.
In 2002, Mr Thambiah moved to the Home Retail Group, initially as Head of E-commerce for the Argos business where she developed an award-winning online operation, and latterly as head of Multi-Channel Retail which covered e-commerce business across the group including Argos, Homebase and its associated financial services operation.
At the beginning of this year, Ms Thambiah became a freelance consultant, continuing to work in the retail sector.
Ed Anderson, chairman of Yorkshire Building Society, said: “I am delighted to announce the appointment of Indira Thambiah as a non-executive director.
“Her experience of multi-channel operations within the retail sector will be a welcome addition to the Board given our focus on members being able to choose their preferred method of doing business with the Society – whether it is through our branch and agency network, on the telephone or online.”
