Pilling upbeat on opportunities for building society

YORKSHIRE Building Society is looking to open more branches and create new jobs, its new chief executive has said.

Marking almost 100 days in the job, Chris Pilling also hailed the “tremendous legacy” left at the mutual by his predecessor Iain Cornish.

Mr Pilling, whose career background includes stints as chief executive of First Direct and as the head of HSBC’s branch network, said the integration of both the merger of Norwich & Peterborough Building Society and acquisition of Egg Banking’s £430m mortgage book and £2.5bn savings business would be a long progress.

He added that the UK’s second largest building society would continue to identify potential opportunities over the medium to long-term but that the business had a clear plan.

“The opportunities we’ve taken were not available to us a year ago,” he said. “So we’ve got to be mindful of the environment we’re in.

“It’s inevitable if changes are happening we’re associated with opportunities but we’ve got a business agenda.”

Yorkshire Building Society, which recently revealed that 2011 core operating profit rose by 27% to £163m, is set to open the first two of 12 new branches in Bingley and Pudsey over the next few months.

And Mr Pilling said the building society wanted to build on its expansion with further openings.

“From a previous life I know all banks are closing branches and shrinking,” he said. “We see a very, very strong future for our branches and agencies and want to open in other areas.”

Mr Pilling has identified online opportunities coming from the Egg deal and said the N&P merger would allow the Yorkshire to launch a current account for the first time.

“But these are additions to rather than in places of. If you talk to major banks they’re seeing online as a replacement strategy,” said Mr Pilling, who said members found it reassuring they could visit branches and deal directly with staff.

However, he said the integration of the two organisations could take several years, an experience borne out from the society’s merger with Chelsea Building Society.

However, the Yorkshire, which is creating 220 new jobs in its Bradford heartland, would continue to provide the best possible service to its members and help savers and those looking to buy homes, he said.

Mr Pilling is conscious that he is in the fortunate position of taking a high profile job in an organisation that is growing and is enjoying positive fortunes.

But he is also conscious that much work is ahead and complacency cannot be a factor.

The former Procter & Gamble brand manager described his management style as “formal yet informal”, meaning he welcomes conversations with staff about how to improve facets within the building society’s operations.

And he reiterated his belief that the public’s confidence in banks remained low and said “cynicism is palpable” about the sector.

“Part of my strategy is of course to continue what we’ve been doing and there’s a position in the marketplace for a trusted alternative to banks,” he said.

“The time has never been harder but also never been better for building societies like ours to show the strength and skills to make that difference.”

Yorkshire Building Society maintained its core tier capital ratio at 12.6% in 2011. New members increased by 27% to more than 3.3m and new lending was up by 46% to £4.1bn.