THE MYTH OF TALENT

Having devoured more than my share of turkey and of chocolate over the past few days I've also begun devouring some of my Christmas gifts.I started with the DVD of the superb Danish thriller The Killing, and I managed to consume all 20 one-hour episodes over just 5 sittings, so I am now hunting the 2nd series with my HMV vouchers. My appetite then shifted to the slim paperback called Bounce by Matthew Syed, journalist and former international table-tennis champion. His book aims to debunk the notion of the "talent myth" that super-achievers are born not moulded, and he trumpets the extraordinary successes we can all achieve if we practice enough, work hard and believe in ourselves. His anecdotes are really inspiring and the book is an optimistic and stimulating slant on the recipe for sporting and business success. This time of year seems to accentuate my appetites for so many things, and I am sure some January trimming will be required, but the core messages of Matthew Syed's book will stay with me long into 2012.

REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL

Over an expresso this morning with a golf buddy of mine we were bemoaning the prevailing gloom this week, punctuated by the Chancellors Autumn Statement, the public sector strike,the intensifying crisis in the Eurozone and yesterdays Financial Stability report from the Bank of England. Our antidote to this was to create a list of "reasons to be cheerful" (as the late,great Ian Dury once declared)...we came up with the following gems; 1. Coffee is apparently now good for you. 2. Stoke City are through to the knockout rounds of the Europa League 3. Julian Barnes novel "The Sense of an Ending" 4. Berlusconi is NOT our Prime Minister. 5.The mild weather is predicted to persist this weekend so golf assured. 6. We are not in the euro. 7. I am going to see Coldplay in Manchester on Sunday. 8. The sheer doggedness of charity fundraisers. 9. Gary Oldman in Tinker,Tailor Soldier,Spy. 10. The John Lewis Xmas TV advert. 11. Having great people in our businesses. 12. A new Jaguar car plant for the West Midlands 13. Rory McIlroy 14.The Leveson enquiry. 15. Children of all ages at Xmas................and so many more reasons I'm sure.

STAFF SURVEY

I've been heartened and humbled by the superb results from our recent survey of staff opinions. In the midst of an austere and unpredictable economic environment, the way our staff feel about working at The Hanley is emphatically positive. Amongst the most eye-catching results are ; 88% of staff would recommend The Hanley as a good place to work........ 92% of staff believe they're encouraged to take personal responsibility for their work quality and performance........95% fully understand the organisations aims and objectives.......86% state that their line manager encourages them to take initiative and make decisions. Naturally we have areas where we need to refocus our efforts . These mainly surround career progression (which isn't always easy to engineer in a 60 person firm) and the need for more training and development ( I will really start to worry when our staff have an appetite for LESS training).So a valuable and instructive exercise, as well as a motivating one. We believe that if we continue to treat our staff well then they'll continue to treat our customers that way too.

BOOKSTORES ARE GREAT

I felt a bit guilty reading a weekend newspaper report about the 25% fall in the number of independent booksellers in the UK over the past years.My guilt was based on my buying habit of using Amazon to purchase books these days because it is just so easy to do so.I probably buy 5 or 6 books a month and so I'd be a regular customer of a local bookshop if I'd gained such an affinity. ( I am currently really enjoying Andrew Rawnsley's book on the rise and fall of New Labour; The End of the Party)
I then rationalised things a bit more by reminding myself that I do occasionally use a local bookstore in Hanley when I am in the city centre but I'm not aware they have an on-line offering so all I am really doing is exercising "channel preferences" to suit my buying behaviour. If pressed I'd also admit that buying books on-line is fun, but not as enjoyable as browsing a bookshop. In reality, 21st century retailing is all about giving customers a range of choices in how to do business with you but never compromising on service excellence. I would however gladly support the Booksellers Association's goal of helping creative and entrepeneurial people who run bookshops to thrive by cutting car parking costs in city centres. Many of us who believe in local branches on the High Street would welcome more imaginative measures to revitalise town centre shopping .Sometimes there is no substitute for face to face expert advice.

"GENERATION RENT"

It didn't take long for my relaxing Bank Holiday weekend to recede, as I switched on this morning's Today programme on Radio 4 to hear Ruth Davison of the National Housing Federation predict that the proportion of home-ownership in the UK could plummet to 63.8% in the next decade, ( a level unseen since the mid 1980s) unless we tackle the "crisis of the chronic under-supply of new homes". The research commissioned by the NHF predicts higher rents and an entire generation "locked out of decent housing". No punches pulled there. Certainly the historically low level of new homes built last year creates a supply-side problem but in reality the demand-side has deep fractures too, most notably on affordability and the way house price inflation has out-stripped wages growth. This latter dimension of a multi-dimensional problem makes the plight of young, aspiring first-time buyers more acute as they feel compelled to rent as mortgage lenders (rightly) insist that they demonstrate an ability to pay before a mortgage is offered. Escalating rents in high demand locations have led some to forecast that rent levels will rise by 20% over the next 5 years.So "Generation Rent" face the vicious circle of having incomes squeeze as rents rise and wages fail to keep pace with rising inflation , making it hard to save for a (larger)deposit and so having to continue to rent. .......so whats the answer? Well, no sound-bites from me on a layered problem such as this but I still believe that home ownership is an emotional desire and an aspiration for most people in the UK. Demand is high and supply can be improved by more efficient planning guidelines as envisaged in the new Planning Policy Framework announced last month, and a move away from the quantity targets which gave us an over-supply of inner city flats.Strategic initiatives by government and by developers to stimulate the buying process are welcome as is the repositioning of housing nearer the top of the political agenda. It may also be time for a re-appraisal of controls, standards and the degree of competition in the private rented sector. In the meantime as a lender we will continue to play our part too, by helping first time buyers in our locality to save for a mortgage and to obtain an affordable mortgage on the right property for them.

HONORARY DOCTORATE

Yesterday I attended Staffordshire Universitys graduation ceremony to receive my honorary doctorate degree. As Lou Reed would say "just a perfect day". Sunshine, lots of smiling faces, and a very proud and humble CEO of The Hanley on stage to receive my awarded degree. It was a real privilege to be there and to be recognised in this way, a testimony to all my colleagues at The Hanley over the past 9 years who have worked tenaciously to do the very best for our customers and members. I was struck by the professionalism of everyone involved in the organisation of the event and by the delight amongst my contacts and colleagues in the University's Business School at the achievement of all their students. These are tough times for the higher education sector, on the cusp of a radical shift in funding. The need for a demonstrably excellent student experience and strong employability credentials will be distinguishing features in an increasingly competitive university sector. From my own exposure to Staffs Uni over several years ( and many more to come I hope) this particular organisation will "shine" and future students are in good hands.

NAMES MAY CHANGE BUT.......

On Friday I played in the annual Building Societies Association golf day at the Leicestershire golf club and managed to win the event with the lowest net score (66 as you ask). The trophy I won is a handsome, silver "layer cake" engraved with winners dating back to 1930 when a gentleman named C.O.Marshall from the Abbey Road building society won the event at Walton Heath golf club. Since then the list of societies engraved on the trophy include Colchester Permanent, Huddersfield & Bradford, Middleton and the Burnley as well as more recent "plc converters" such as Woolwich and Halifax. The rich history of the mutual sector is always engaging but the list of names also reminded me that , despite media coverage to the contrary, the consolidation of our sector is not a new phenomenon. Building societies have survived and thrived through market turbulence and many boom & bust cycles. More UK adults than ever before do business with mutuals, and although the flavour may change the mould is still fit for purpose.

BOARD STRATEGY AWAY-DAY

We have just held our annual Board "away-day" to review our strategy and agree priorities for the coming financial year which starts on 1st September. You could be forgiven for thinking that a strategy for a small building society right now can be summed up in one word....Survival...However, we like to think we can do a bit better than just survive, and in any case the survival instincts of small, local mutuals over the past few years since the "credit crunch" and through the recession have been commendable. If this era in financial services has taught us nothing else it must surely be that big aint necessarily beautiful. The author Peter Drucker once commented that " strategy is not about forecasting the future,it is about understanding the future implications of todays decisions". None of us can claim to be experts in predicting what the future holds but we can strive to make decisions for this business which put us in a strong place as the future unfolds. To do that we need to identify our strengths and play to those, evaluate the likely risks we face and create a range of products our members will want. We also aim to be distinctive in the way we deliver service. No amount of TV advertising by large banks proclaiming their commitment to outstanding customer service can guarantee the much-desired reputational enhancement for those banks, but it is curious to watch our large plc competitors try to mimic the way we do business. Our strategy day was challenging, thought-provoking, interactive, productive and enjoyable. Easy for me to say that I know, but the acid test would be, what would a Hanley member think of our day-long discussions had he/she been an observer?My firm belief is they'd have been reassured and impressed by the conviction and the vision shown by the Hanley Board.

BSA CHAIR

I have recently just completed my year of office as Chairman of the Building Societies Association,an experience I thoroughly enjoyed as it provided me with a broader appreciation of the spectrum of issues facing the mutual sector and an opportunity to influence the direction of development. Mutuals have much to offer, primarily because we are owned by our customers (members) and are not answerable to shareholders demanding a dividend for their financial stake. But mutuality in itself is just an organisational form, and we need to give it meaning by our focus on outstanding service and competitive products. The mood of the mutual sector, as reflected at our BSA Conference in Birmingham earlier this month, is a mix of optimism and realisation that we need to seize the chance given to us by the current plight of the state-funded banks and customer thirst for financial expertise that they can actually trust. Building societies have been around for many decades (since 1854 in The Hanleys case) and whilst we don't want to live in the past, we believe that many of the virtues we demonstrate are in high demand in our 21st century marketplace. Our job is to refashion and remould without jeopardising the core values of mutuality. An exciting challenge and one we are relishing at The Hanley. It is often assumed that making a product or service more contemporary requires a cutting-edge- technology solution, and of course the smartphone generation have created new market dynamics, which we all try to wrestle with and benefit from, but in fact successful business is about adapting and staying relevant, without compromising on quality. For every Apple there is a Burberry and for every Amazon there is an Innocent.

WEMBLEY MAGIC

There can only be one blog topic this morning; the magnificent 5 nil win by Stoke City FC in yesterdays FA Cup Semi Final at Wembley. The Mighty Potters simply demolished Bolton Wanderers in the biggest landslide victory in a cup semi final for over 70 years and the city of Stoke has a broad grin on its face this morning. I have felt for some time that the progress of Stoke City over the past 3 years has been the single, most powerful regeneration impetus for this area and that view is crystallised this morning. Much of the credit lies with a bunch of players who are totally focused on making the most of their talents but I think the clubs success is a triumph of leadership. The manager Tony Pulis has a quiet dignity but a steely approach to implementing the plan that he and his chairman formulated 3 years ago. Stoke have had their detractors. Normally its the lazy journalism and the easy sound-bite of Stoke as "long ball, long-throw, limited but committed"type of summary, but in reality the team is vibrant, well suited to the rigours of the Premier League and full of individual craft. Leadership has brought out the best in the team. Leadership has taken the club to new heights. Leadership makes the city proud of Stoke City. Many congratulations to messrs Pulis, Coates and the leadership team at the club.

SENTINEL BUSINESS AWARDS

On Tuesday evening The Hanley won the award for Customer Care & Service at the Sentinel Business Awards attended by over 350 local business people from across North Staffordshire.We were thrilled to hear our name announced as the award-winner, so much so that all 12 Hanley staff charged toward the stage to be photographed accepting the handsome statuette! Bear in mind that this group of 12 staff represents 20% of our total workforce and you'll get a sense of just how energised we were.It was a superb event, not just because we won an award.As a showcase for all that is progressive and creative about this area the Sentinel Business Awards is exemplary and it reminds us all that this City is capable of outstanding results even in extremely adverse market conditions. Locally there has been huge disappointment and astonishment that Stoke was omitted from the governments list of cities deserving of Enterprise Zone status and it often feels that successful businesses in this area have head-winds to face that other cities don't, but on this particular evening it was really refreshing to hear success-stories from so many local firms. Part of the joy of winning is definitely the fact that its was local recognition of our strengths but also that we were "competing" with businesses from outside our financial services sector.This added to the sweetness of the award. From a personal point of view I was also very pleased to be introduced to David Frost the Director General of British Chambers of Commerce, a chap I've admired for a long time and whose advocacy of the business community is 2nd to none. Obviously I told him that mutuality is a 21st century business opportunity!

FIRST TIME BUYERS

One of the questions I'm most often asked is What does The Hanley do for first time buyers? This question tends to assume that FTBs are a unique group and meriting very specific attention , in terms of products and service, an assumption I'd challenge as I'd caution against seeing FTBs as a homogeneous group and an accurate barometer of a healthy housing market. This is simply because the FTB market has changed markedly from the traditional view; it is much smaller than it used to be (approx 200,000 FTB transactions are likely this year, around half the level of peak years) and is more diverse than it once was. For instance the average FTB is in his/her early 30s and around 8 out of 10 FTBs now rely on help from the bank of mum and dad to gather a suitable deposit . Consequently it is important for a lender like The Hanley to have a range of options for prospective FTBs so that we can cater for the spectrum of needs they will have.That's why we have fixed and variable rate products available , as well as shared ownership advice.But most importantly, my answer to the question at the top of this blog is that The Hanley concentrates on FTBs in our heartland territory because that means we can sit down with them at one of our 6 branches and explore what is right for their particular circumstances. We believe in the value of trusted, face to face advice and nowhere is that more relevant than with a first time buyer.

GOLD STANDARD

It has been a memorable week, punctuated this morning by the announcement that The Hanley has been awarded Gold standard by Investors in People (IIP) following an intensive inspection of our procedures, communications and customer commitments. We are absolutely thrilled, not least because it puts us in an elite group of 1% of IIP firms who are bracketed as IIP Gold. The credit for this goes to our wonderful people who work here, the most talented and tenacious bunch that I've ever had the pleasure to work alongside. Much is made in the media right now of the extent to which customers have been let down by the banks and it's easy to make a case that banks seem not to have learnt any humility from the last few years, but my colleagues at The Hanley could never be accused of letting down our members. In a way it is simple to unite 60 staff behind an intention to deliver outstanding prerformance and customer service, because the business is small enough to wrap your arms around it and to calibrate progress, but I'd argue that it is also feasible to do so in a large firm. Recruiting the right people, motivating and developing them with clear goals and a shared view of what success looks like, alongside a commitment to doing the right things (as well as doing things right) seems like a recipe for a Gold standard in anyones language.
Whilst some of the big banks may be "too big to fail" from a systemic risk viewpoint I don't believe customers should allow them to regard organisational size as an excuse for poor service, lack of attention to personal circumstances or inappropriate product sales. Judging by the recent glut of adverts from banks about their intentions to become "customer friendly" maybe bank Executives see that too.

ANNUS MIRABILIS

This latin phrase means "wonderful year" or "year of wonders" and was originally used by the English poet John Dryden to reflect on the year 1666. My attention was drawn to the Annus Mirabilis of 1971 in a recent article in Word magazine, a year in which the following albums were released.....Led Zeppelin IV , Hunky Dory (Bowie), Imagine (John Lennon) Whats Going On (Marvin Gaye) Sticky Fingers (Rolling Stones) Blue( Joni Mitchell) LA Woman (The Doors) Surfs Up (Beach Boys) Every Picture Tells a Story (Rod Stewart) American Pie (Don McLean)..... a vintage collection of gems, and arguably some high-points in careers, all of which are fondly remembered by many of us 40 YEARS LATER. A truly remarkable feat, and a clearly amazing year. I should point out that, although all these records are in my CD collection now, I didn't buy them in 1971......I was only 12 years old then.! My point is that longevity demonstrates sustainable quality and of course few people in 1971 would have predicted a 40 year (minimum) durability for this music. So when we ponder all the gloomy predictions about 2011, we may soberly consider that this year could become our annus mirabilis if we make the most of our opportunities. Who knows, maybe our outputs now (in arts and in business) will have a profound influence on future reminiscences. I bet the flared-jeans and long-haired music critics of 1971 didn't predict that the year would yield 10 of the best albums ever recorded.

ANNUS MIRABILIS