tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25970872086667517902024-03-14T09:34:04.028+00:00Chief Executive's Blog - Hanley Building SocietyThe views and opinions from David Webster, Chief Executive of Hanley Economic Building SocietyDavid Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-86336885450603900002014-09-12T16:51:00.000+01:002014-09-12T16:53:28.750+01:00
Nostalgia isn't really my thing - I prefer to look forward rather than glance backward. Of course I relish the movies and music of the 70's when I was growing up, but that stuff means as much to me now as it did then. In 1975 there was no bigger event than the release of their Physical Graffiti album by Led Zeppelin, but I was listening to that CD when travelling in my car this morning and it still sounds as vibrant to me now as it did almost 40 years ago. So that doesn't feel like a yearning for nostalgia, it feels more like an appreciation of the quality and the longevity of musical genius.
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Similarly when I look back on our financial year 2013/14 it is the performance of our people, their dedication and commitment that resonates for me. Products come and go, marketing campaigns dissolve, but the tenacity and the focus on Hanley values remain intact as we reflect on a very successful year for the Society. That's why yesterday's meeting of the senior management team is so important. We met to discuss and evaluate the proposed PRP appraisal ratings for every member of staff at The Hanley, to ensure consistency and transparency and to challenge ourselves, and Key Managers, on our approach and our conclusions. Spending a full day talking about People Performance isn't an extravagance, it's a testimony to the culture at The Hanley and proof of the rigorous way we choose to appraise and develop our single greatest asset - our staff. It is also one of the most enjoyable and rewarding meetings for me personally, as it reminds me (in a non-nostalgic sort of way) just how amazing our staff are and the pivotal role they play in our success.
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This year we held our PRP meeting against a backdrop of some of the best results we've achieved in many years -
<ul>
<il>• Mortgage Advances up 39% to £65m </il>
<br><il>• Net lending up 47% to £23m</il>
<br><il>• Savings balances up 12% to £310m </il>
<br><il>• New membership up 80% to 2,215 </il>
</ul>
It is an obvious point to make, but an important one to repeat - our success this year is a consequence of having talented, committed and engaged staff. I’m grateful for all of their hard work and I’ll allow myself a brief look back to the past year, closely followed by a look ahead with optimism to an equally buoyant 2014/2015.
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David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-47616544305916485052014-01-20T15:37:00.002+00:002014-01-20T15:37:28.866+00:00CHOOSE ADVICE BEFORE YOU CHOOSE A MORTGAGE DEAL<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NY5kxl8WD40/Ut0SpqbcukI/AAAAAAAAADM/VwwFuDcDDBo/s1600/hanley+blog+advice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NY5kxl8WD40/Ut0SpqbcukI/AAAAAAAAADM/VwwFuDcDDBo/s320/hanley+blog+advice.jpg" /></a></div>
Across the media fixed rate mortgages are fashionable. The logic goes like this; interest rates are at their lowest level for decades and the Bank of England base rate has been stuck on 0.5% for nearly 5 years so their only way is up, therefore grabbing a fixed rate deal now is the smart move, especially as there are still plenty great fixed-rate offers on the market. Indeed even a senior member of the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee ,Richard Sharp, advocated this when he declared this week that "now is a good time to fix" when he delivered his perspective in front of the Treasury Select Committee. Obviously Mr Sharp was speaking in generic terms to UK families rather than providing mortgage advice, but he captured the mood that fixed rates are magnetic, as evidenced by recent statistics from the Council of Mortgage Lenders which reveal that 9 out of 10 new borrowers are opting for a fixed rate loan rather than a variable rate mortgage.
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Automatic decisions always make me twitchy! I prefer to consider the options. That's why I believe in informed advice at an individual level before a new borrower plunges into the congested pool of fixed-rate buyers.
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Choice across a range of alternatives is beneficial to the customer as is a tailored solution. Undoubtedly the attraction of a fixed rate deal is the certainty of knowing how much is payable each month for the period of the product, typically 2 or 5 years. Such an assurance is vital for many people as they weigh up affordability. BUT although the next move in interest rates will be upwards , we cannot say when that will occur and it could even be 2 years away. So the differential between a fixed rate and a comparable variable rate product can't be ignored. Even if rates rise in mid 2015, as some predict, a variable rate mortgage could be a smarter choice and this relative strength is even more pronounced when set up fees are taken into account. Most variable rate products are fee-free whilst fixed rates can carry fees of £2000 or more. This may be a heavy charge for the certainty of knowing your monthly payments. Unlike a variable rate mortgage there is a rigidity and inflexibility inherent in a fixed rate deal so if pliabilty is important to a customer then a variable rate product may be more suitable.
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I am not getting all Orwellian and Animal Farm here....fixed bad, variable good........but nor is the reverse true. Crucially, the pivot is genuine choice via informed, professional mortgage advice so that no one is just shoe-horned into the latest fashion.
<a href="http://http://www.thehanley.co.uk/mortgage-broker-advice_21.html"></a>David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-71513209853822766622013-11-25T15:33:00.001+00:002013-11-25T15:33:53.971+00:00JFK - STILL A LEADERSHIP ROLE MODEL, 50 YEARS ON.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KMnzvgsEMhw/UpNe8dU25JI/AAAAAAAAABQ/Q1Tcmwctd-U/s1600/Hanley+JFK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-KMnzvgsEMhw/UpNe8dU25JI/AAAAAAAAABQ/Q1Tcmwctd-U/s320/Hanley+JFK.jpg" /></a></div>
I was only 4 years old when John F Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas in November 1963. I'm not old enough to recall exactly where I was when his death was announced, but I've always been intrigued by the conspiracy theories and by the inconsistencies around the Warren report and the killing of his assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. JFK holds a special, some would say romanticised, position in modern American history and 50 years after he died the fascination with his leadership style and his charismatic personality seems undiminished.
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Many people argue that JFK would never have coped with the intensity of 21st century media scrutiny as his personal indiscretions would have been magnified and the mystique of his character would nowadays be more rigorously challenged. Maybe so. But at the very least JFK had 3 leadership traits which for me are highly impressive and from which we can still learn a great deal even 50 years after his death –
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1. He really knew how to set stretch targets! In fact when he announced in September 1962 that “we choose to go to the moon in this decade, not because it is easy but because it is hard”, he really set the ultimate stretch target. This inspired a generation of Americans to take scientific exploration to unbelievable levels and made people believe they could achieve a feat almost beyond comprehension.
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2. He was an innovator. When he ran for President in 1960, JFK took on Richard Nixon in the first ever televised presidential debate. He used the emerging technology of TV to connect with voters and to emphasise his youthful vibrancy and modernity.
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3. He knew his own power, and he adjusted its impact on others. Kennedy was very aware of his impact on the people around him in the White House and he knew that his presence could dominate every debate and decision. During the Cuban Missile Crisis he insisted that his brother Robert, the Attorney General, led the discussions as JFK wanted to know what his top people really thought, and he knew that if he was in the room then people would be tempted to say what they thought the President wanted to hear rather than what they really believed.
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It seems to me that Statesmanship is rare these days on the world stage and I can think of only one current global leader whose leadership credentials are likely to be recalled 50 years from now (Nelson Mandela) but JFK resonates still, not just because of the awful circumstances of his death, but also because of the potency of his leadership even when viewed through a contemporary lens.David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-12482496116194918742013-07-24T10:09:00.002+01:002013-07-24T10:09:46.305+01:00HELP TO BUY The government's flagship initiative Help to Buy has attracted "mixed" reaction even before it is launched next January.Heavyweight commentators like the former Governor of the Bank of England and the chairman of the influential Treasury Select Committee have expressed reservations. I know my own concerns don't carry that kind of punch but it still feels like we are trying to solve a housing supply problem with a demand-stimulus. That risks a future house price bubble and affordability challenges for many borrowers in the years ahead and at a time when interest rates could well be rising. We simply don't build sufficient new homes in the UK and until that is addressed, then such initiatives feel far too tactical and headline-grabbing. I'm also convinced that if the large banks had followed the example of the mutual sector and continued to lend to furst time buyers in recent times then a government-underwritten scheme would not be neccessary. Building societies like The Hanley never evacuated the first time buyer market as we have always recognised that customers with modest deposits are a key link in the lending chain. Over the past year our lending to borrowers requiring a mortgage of 90%+ LTV has shown a substantial increase and we are able to do so prudently and within our own risk-appetite , therefore participation in Help to Buy is not essential for us. The devil is in the detail of the scheme and we will undoubtedly keep it under review but an absence from the list of lenders using Help to Buy is certainly not any kind of signal of a reluctance to lend to first time buyers. On the contrary we are already doing what this scheme is encouraging lenders to do, and therefore we'd need to be persuaded that there are clear benefits in changing runways when we have a perfectly sccessful flight path already. David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-48127071572721906492013-06-18T13:07:00.000+01:002013-06-18T13:07:23.159+01:00A TAX ON ASPIRATIONSAlthough I've always regarded Stamp Duty as an unfair and distorting tax due to its "slab" structure I was nonetheless taken aback by its impact in recent years compared to in the mid 1990s as revealed in a report called " Stamping on Aspiration" produced by Homeowners Alliance. The average Stamp Duty paid on buying a home jumped from £532 in 1996 to £5957 in 2011.......a ten fold increase! Stamp Duty has risen 7 times faster than inflation,6 times faster than average earnings and 5 times faster than house prices since 1996. The government now forecasts that by 2017 it will make as much money taxing people buying their home as it will from the so-called "sin-taxes" on alcohol and tobacco. So much for the governments stated desire to foster conditions which aid aspiring homebuyers .The report concludes that the persistent ratcheting up of Stamp Duty by successive governments is a key reason for the decline in UK home ownership since 2002. Aspiring homeowners have had to tackle the quadruple-whammy of rising rates of duty, new Stamp Duty bands, frozen thresholds and rising house prices. Given the plethora of current Government initiatives to stimulate demand in the housing market....First Buy / New Buy / Home Buy / FLS ..... surely the time is right to take a surgical knife to Stamp Duty and sacrifice some tax receipts for the prospect of greater affordability and more flexibility for homebuyers. Short term counter-cyclical measures such as those I've listed may well have some relevance and impact as the economy bumps along, but more strategic solutions on topics like Stamp Duty ( and housing supply) though much tougher to initiate , are the really pivotal changes which could re-mould our housing market for the decade to come. David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-26698411466750651522013-05-10T15:13:00.002+01:002013-05-10T15:13:54.705+01:00BSA CONFERENCE This week I completed my tenure as Chairman of the Building Societies Association and passed the baton to my successor David Cutter ( CEO Skipton BS) at our Annual Conference in Harrogate. I have learnt a lot during my time as Chairman and feel very fortunate to have been elected to the role, during a period of immense change in our industry. I was delighted to complete my term with a hugely successful conference with high-calibre guest speakers and a sense of optimism and resurgence amongst attendees. Highlights of the week for me included a very thought provoking debate on the future of branches, which included presentations from the CEO of First Direct and the CEO of Yorkshire BS, a quite awe-inspiring talk by Sir Ranulph Fiennes and a superb speech by the former MD of Dyson who reminded us all of the vital role played by innovation in business success. I also sat next to our after-dinner speaker Jeremy Vine on Wednesday night who is really enagaging and interesting company and a first-class speaker with a fantastic range of anecdotes from his 25 years in broadcasting. We found that we also shared similar tastes in music, mainly from late 70s stuff like Bowie, The Clash and the slightly more obscure Spear of Destiny. Unquestionably the mood of the conference was that this is a key moment for mutuals as we seek to seize the initiative and advance our market share while competitors in the PLC banking sector remain mired in customer-mistrust and balance sheet rebuilding. But it is also very clear that forward-momentum can only be maintained if building societies focus on delivering what customers really need , whether that is in first time buyer lending or in helping advise our members on long term savings. We also wish to reinforce our message that mutuals have a contemporary relevance and to do that we acknowledge scope for additional investment in new ways of marketing and distributing our products in the digital arena. Combining the values & traditions of our roots with a modern zest for outstanding service sounds to me like a potent cocktail. David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-69890174298386621392013-04-12T15:52:00.000+01:002013-04-12T15:52:58.913+01:00CONFIDENCE IS THE THINGRecently I was asked to open the new Management School at Keele University following the refurbishment of the Darwin Building. Prior to saying a few words to the attendees as a group, I got involved in some conversations about business confidence and the difficulties facing small businesses in making investment decisions when their confidence is fragile. The tone of our discussions reflected the prevailing mood of austerity in the general economy and a sense that many businesses feel compelled to postpone expansionary decisions until the clouds shift. We also spoke of the downside risks of getting the timing wrong and how that can further sap confidence. I was reminded that confidence is the glue that binds so many of our actions as individuals and as businesses. Further evidence that confidence is the thing appeared on my TV screen last night when I watched David Lynn from Trentham golf club, here in Stoke, being interviewd on Sky TV following his sensational round on the first day of the Masters in Augusta. He just personified a quiet, relaxed confidence. The sheer scale of his achievement was overshadowed by the ease with which he got the job done. Of course being a true pro he'd no doubt say that there are still 3 more days to go before the job is done but my point remains; a sense of confidence makes things happen. And the opposite is true too, absence of confidence allows doubt and fear to prevail . The recently published Financial Services Survey by CBI / PWC on Industry Sentiment declares that "fresh growth is reported across a range of sectors and customer segments.Rising profitability and an increase in employment reinforce the impression of greater confidence". Lets hope the glue is sufficiently adhesive to bring forward some of those key decisions on business investment. David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-7995678693701989882013-03-01T12:28:00.002+00:002013-03-01T12:28:50.311+00:00TWO EARS,ONE MOUTH This has been a week of listening for me. It started last Saturday morning when I hosted our quarterly Customer Form where members come along and talk to me about the financial issues that they are most concerned about. As ever , questions and discussion topics spanned a wide spectrum. I was asked about the downgrading of the UKs AAA rating by Moodys, the prospect of negative Bank of England interest rates in the future, the impact of the Governments Funding for Lending scheme on savers rates, our plans for the branch network, the provision of external audit services by big 4 accountancy firms and inevitably the plight of savers in an economic environment where spending is encouraged rather than prudent saving . Members attending seemed to welcome the candour of my answers even if they didn't provide a panacea and I think we did generate a bit of light as well as some heat. In midweek I attended a breakfast meeting at our branch in Hanley to hear how a group of our staff were coping with the challenges of the mortgage market and the impact of rate-compression on customers enquiring about savings rates. It is always a priviledge to hear stories of outstanding service in difficult circumstances, and those were a feature of my listening mode at that meeting. I then attended a dinner with 400 guests last night at the Britannia stadium to celebrate Gordon Banks' 75th birthday, alongside 9 Hanley colleagues who had been particularly successful in their various roles at The Hanley during the past few months and for whom this was a modest recognition of all their hard work and commitment. . As well as listening to tales of success about Englands greatest ever goalkeeper from members of the 1966 world cup squad, I also heard lots of great stuff from my own team about their optimism for the future and the ways we are promoting our excellent product range and our commitment to customer care.I feel refreshed now, having used ears and mouth in direct proportion this week. David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-2577118043021120152013-01-30T13:39:00.000+00:002013-01-30T13:39:11.089+00:00BOARD NEVER BORINGI mentioned to one of my guests at last nights Stoke City v Wigan match ( a cracking game, finished 2-2 with the visitors playing really well in 2nd half, after Stoke dominated the 1st half) that we'd had a Hanley Board meeting earlier in the day, and how much I'd enjoyed it. My guest seemed surprised that I didn't regard the meeting as a functional chore, but I emphasised the spectrum of topics under discussion and the energetic contributions from all 7 Directors around the table. I'm occasionally asked by Society members at our Customer Forums, what exactly do you talk about at Board meetings? so reflecting on yesterdays Board meeting, which was a fairly typical one, I recall diverse and important topics such as; <br />
---- a review of our Key Performance Indicators to assess how we are performing against financial budgets in the first 4 months of our financial year 2012/2013.<br />
---- consideration of the progress made on actions we agreed at our annual strategy day last May.<br />
---- a discussion on how we are contending with current market conditions and key risks in our core markets.<br />
---- a formal review of the Hanley's internal auditors.<br />
---- a discussion on Board succession and recruitment plans.<br />
---- an annual review of our policy on Equality and an annual report from our Money Laundering Officer<br />
---- a discussion on the emerging "conduct risk" agenda as the FCA and PRA replace the FSA.<br />
So quite a pot-pourri of subjects for us to do justice to , all embellished by the vitality of Board members, keen to see the society continue to thrive. .....and yes I really enjoyed it! Crucially our Board meetings are challenging and honest. No hidden personal agendas. No silo mentality. We also talked about contemporary standards of governance and the logic of inviting an external review by an expert on Board effectiveness.So no sign of complacency. Maybe that's another reason why I enjoy our Board meetings so much. David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-78896352126005639002012-11-30T15:07:00.003+00:002012-11-30T15:07:50.210+00:00NORTH/SOUTH DIVIDE The question I'm most often asked when people realise I work for a building society is; what do you think will happen to house prices? I've now become adept at dodging the desired soundbite response by reminding my inquisitor that forecasting is very difficult, especially if it's the future you seek to forecast ! I have also tried to nuance my response with a reminder of how territorial the UK housing market is, and how London and the south east is practically another eco-system compared to our local housing market here in north Staffordshire. Recent Land Registry figures actually show that the north/south divide is widening; London house prices are up 7% over the 12 months to the end of October while prices in the north east fell by 5.8%. In fact if you scope into prices in the London Borough of Kensington & Chelsea you will see average price rises of an eye-watering 15.9% in that period. Mortgage lending for house purchases in London is also disproportionately high, up 22% against an average of +13% nationally, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders' most recent figures. So the disparity in house prices in favour of London is unlikely to fade anytime soon and the north/south divide is a hallmark of the UK market. Which is one reason (but not the only reason) why local building societies like The Hanley have such a key part to play in making mortgage funds available to local housing markets, to such an extent that some of our products are specifically designed for the locality in which we were founded, and upon which our business success is so rooted. Small, local mutuals like The Hanley can serve local customers with mortgage deals that are not available on a national scale.This is most notable in the first-time buyer market, where frankly we feel a responsibility to assist local people to get on that first rung of the homebuying ladder. So a modest 5% deposit can still be enough to obtain a Hanley mortgage for first time buyers in our heartland, despite what the national media may declare.So sometimes a fragmented, territorial market can have it's benefits, even if it makes that soundbite answer to the house-prices question much tougher to compose. David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-50730459054934723942012-10-30T14:20:00.001+00:002012-10-30T14:20:16.141+00:00BUILD IT AWARDAt The Hanley we have been active in the self-build lending market for a few years now and we have carved an impressive niche by offering a bespoke service and a distinctive mortgage product to prospective borrowers keen to build their dream home. Last Thursday we attended the inaugural Build It award ceremony in Swindon and were announced at the lunch as Best Self Build Lender. We were thrilled to win such a prestigious accolade especially as the competition included other building societies with formidable reputations for innovation around the "green" agenda. The self build segment of the new housing market is blossoming and it is refreshing for us to be associated with such vibrancy.We do so in partnership with Buildstore the leading experts in this field (pardon pun) as this enables us to lend with our customary prudence and in full understanding of the project the customer has in mind. ( see <a href="http://www.buildstore.co.uk)/">www.buildstore.co.uk)</a> The Grand Designs image of self-build is a bit misleading as most people don't actually project manage themselves nor do they don wellies and wield a spirit-level. Most are content to employ experts throughout the process and are simply attracted by being able to influence the design and construction methods. One feature of our self-build lending is that it is widely spread across the country but I'm really hopeful we will soon be announcing that The Hanley will be helping some local Stoke self-builders to fund their ambitions on some local plots. In many ways this is a contemporary version of what building society founders were doing 158 years ago, in helping local people to afford to build their own homes. David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-50648321887160455862012-09-26T14:19:00.000+01:002012-09-26T14:19:27.764+01:00FUNDING FOR LENDINGIt was pleasing to see several building societies listed in yesterday's announcement of the early adopters in the Bank of England's Funding for Lending scheme. The FLS is designed to boost lending to small businesses and to UK households by providing lenders with a funding source below the current level of retail savings rates.With mutuals such as Ipswich, Principality and of course Nationwide on board the range of organisational scale across our sector is better represented than may have been expected and I know a number of smaller societies,including The Hanley, are considering future involvement. Hopefully the FLS will revitalise SME and micro-business funding as I know, from speaking to many business contacts locally,there is a pressing need for this segment of our economy to get a jump-start on new initiatives. Similarly it will be important for FLS to assist potential new mortgage borrowers with modest deposits.It would be a pity if the FLS simply became the catalyst for a remortgage price-war on sub 60% LTV lending. Of course no government intervention in the lending market is guaranteed to combat the prevailing frailty of consumer confidence . Consumers are understandably concerned about the gloomy clouds over the eurozone and about the future impact of austerity measures here in the UK. Seems to me that is why all of us in financial services should welcome all sincere efforts to boost new business levels , whether it is FLS or indeed the current Mail on Sunday campaign to allow the full ISA allowance to be placed in a cash ISA. It's easy to find fault with virtually any attempt to get that jump-start but consumer confidence will only jolt forward when we are crunching through the gears . David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-76736647962014269692012-08-08T14:15:00.002+01:002012-08-08T14:15:32.094+01:00GOLD MEDAL GREATNESS22 Gold medals and still 4 days of competition to go, the Team GB performance has been electrifying. Personal favourites for me have been Sir Chris Hoy, Andy Murray and Mo Farrah but the connectivity of the team and the dedicated focus of our athletes has been revelatory. But the jaw-droppingly, dazzling moments were provided by the American swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, not just for his gold-medal haul but for his grace and sheer class when he took silver behind Ryan Lochte in the 200m. Phelps and so many other gold medallists have reminded us what it takes to be an elite athlete, not just in terms of talent and dedication but also in the mental strength to deliver when it really matters. I knew I'd enjoy all this sport on TV. I said so on the morning of the Opening Ceremony when I was asked on BBC Radio Stoke's Friday review of the current news. I also said that the £9billion bill makes me twitchy at a time when austerity and cutbacks have taken their toll on grass-roots sport, and at a time when the economic recovery isn't expected anytime soon. I still feel that way. The Olympic party has been sensational but the hangover could be brutal. I hope the legacy of sporting success is a potent one and I hope many youngsters want to emulate their Olympic heroes, but the regenerative impact of the games on cities outside London is unproven and there is still so much to be done on infrastructure and skills in other segments of our economy.Sport may be able to lead the way on regeneration, but it may be just the sunniest bit of an otherwise deary summer. Certainly todays forecast by the Bank of England of zero economic growth in 2012 contrasted with the ebullience of the Olympics news, and jarred with the "can-do" mentality that we have found so attractive in Team GB. David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-83442732446357281102012-07-10T13:59:00.001+01:002012-07-10T13:59:15.840+01:00MEDIA MONDAYYesterday was a unique experience for me. I left home at 4am to get to Media City in Salford to appear on Radio5 Live's excellent show, Wake up to Money at 5.45am. An hour or so later and after a swift trip to a very genial make-up lady I made my national TV debut on BBC Breakfast. The topic under discussion was the behaviour of Claims Management Companies and the blizzard of bogus PPI claims that building societies are currently having to contend with, despite our recent complaint to the Minstry of Justice about the volume of "no sale" claims. My trio of media moments was completed by an interview with Radio Scotland on the same topic, although I was very tempted to join in the discussion about Andy Murray's amazing efforts at Wimbledon the previous day. Reflecting on a very special start to my working week I have to admit the experience was a bit nervewracking but hugely enjoyable. I also found myself looking across the Salford Quays from the 2nd floor of the BBC building in admiration of the scale of regeneration that has been achieved there, and wondering why such an ambitious City-scape didn't happen in Stoke a few years ago when the will and the available capital seemed to be at a peak. David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-25722605784769645702012-06-28T16:04:00.001+01:002012-06-28T16:04:27.980+01:00Fixing LIBORYesterday Barclays Bank was fined £290 million for distorting the basic financial data used to set interest rates around the world.The LIBOR ( London Inter Bank Offered Rate) is used to set the value of many thousands of financial transactions across global markets every day. It is the rate at which banks borrow from each other and strict market rules insist that these rates must be reported accurately and honestly by a group of 15 of the worlds biggest banks. Traders at Barclays systematically distorted LIBOR for their own benefit and to mask the true financial position at the bank. The average UK saver or borrower could be forgiven for wondering if this world of nauseating email exchanges with promises of Bollinger for favours done,really has anything at all to do with them.But of course it does. Rigging the LIBOR is like manipulating the price of money, and in the real world that impacts small business loans, mortgages, credit cards and virtually anything else with an interest rate attached. At a time of economic austerity the reputational damage to Barclays is immense. No amount of celebrity-endorsed TV advertising will easily remove this particular stain. Surely this is the nadir for the banking sector? Or maybe not. It's clear that other banks are involved and Barclays is just first under the spotlight. But surely it is also clear that the values and the true culture of a business is reflected in how staff behave towards their customers and in that regard the large PLC banks have nothing at all to teach mutual building societies. Of course we don't get everything right all the time, but the trust of our customers is at the core of the mutual ethos and that defines our clear distinctiveness at a time when many customers must doubt there is anyone they can trust or rely upon. Building societies have a proud heritage and we also have a contemporary commitment to conducting our business in a way which is transparent and fair. If any Barclays customers choose to walk away in disgust, then I can assure them of a warm welcome at The Hanley. David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-89322056937443935472012-05-31T09:29:00.003+01:002012-05-31T09:29:25.592+01:00LONG SERVICE WITH A SMILEToday I'm hosting a lunch for 10 Hanley staff with a combined length of service of 304 years! The lunch is a thank you to our longest serving and loyal colleagues and was prompted by the amazing realisation that 3 of our people will celebrate 40 years service this year.Clearly 1972 was a fine year for recruitment at The Hanley. This is quite a feat in any contemporary business but for a firm with only 60 employees it's even more remarkable.Others joining us for lunch today have 10 or 25 year anniversaries with The Hanley to celebrate in 2012. It would be temptingly easy to caricature long-service as indicative of a reluctance to change and just settling for things as they are. But that really isn't the case with these Hanley colleagues. During my time here I've admired the way very experienced colleagues challenge themselves to contend with the unprecedented changes in our core markets and it is undoubtedly true that the society has benefited from the blend of youth and experience that we have in our business. But there is no sense of anyone having the same year 10 or 25 or 40 times . On the contrary the appetite for personal development amongst our experienced staff is a motivator for new recruits. Perhaps that's part of the success recipe in any business; providing an environment where all employees feel able to demonstrate zest and creativity, irrespective of how long they've been part of the team . David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-47234644033737299132012-05-11T13:51:00.001+01:002012-05-11T13:51:21.701+01:00BSA CHAIR (AGAIN)At this weeks Building Societies Association (BSA) Annual Conference I was elected BSA Chairman by my Chief Executive peers in our sector. As I previously held this post in 2010/11 I've interpreted my re-election as a show of faith rather than a request to clear up the mess I left behind last time! Actually I'm thrilled and feel very privileged to represent the mutual sector in this way, particularly at such a time of regulatory upheaval and market disorientation. Our agenda looks pretty crammed for the next 12 months and of course the housing market remains subdued as a result of macro-economic constraints, notably in relation to funding and the uncertainty in the eurozone.<br />
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The BSA has a talented team in it's London secretariat and they do a superb job for building societies across the country in interpreting legislative and regulatory changes and in reinforcing the message that the UK financial services marketplace needs the mutual sector . We provide a clear alternative to the PLC banks and genuine diversity in the core markets of savings and mortgages and of course our member ownership model helps us get closer to our customer base. Over the next 12 months I hope to assist the BSA in sharpening the case for mutuals by making mutuality meaningful in a contemporary sense.David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-38660994551149179262012-03-30T13:40:00.002+01:002012-03-30T14:38:53.189+01:00EMERGING LEADERSThis years BSA Conference in Manchester includes an innovative segment designed specifically for the future leaders across the mutual sector. The session is tailored for those individuals in our business that we regard as increasingly influential and integral to our future success. Typically these are "middle managers" (what a hackneyed phrase that is) with an appetite for development on such topics as strategy, leadership, risk-evaluation and the key challenges to our sector in the future. The Conference segment will be externally facilitated by the ebullient Terry Russell and I'm sure attendess will gain a great deal from the experience and also from the networking opportunities of just being around the Conference. Aside from acknowledging that growing our own leadership talent is vital for the mutual sector, the session will have the side effect of portraying a contemporary image to the media , which has in the past caricatured the building society annual conference as lacking any diversity and being populated by middle aged men in grey suits.! There will still be a few of us around of course but the conference is about a lot more than that, as proven by a swift glance at the calibre of guest speakers. The Emerging Leaders concept is a familiar one at The Hanley as we have our own internal development programme for key influencers across the society and we have 4 of our rising stars participating / competing on our programme. They'll be joining me at this years conference and I hope it can springboard them to more success as individuals and as a Hanley team in 2012.David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-4471850487998988632012-02-16T13:52:00.002+00:002012-02-16T14:11:30.431+00:00IMPORTANT GUESTSYesterday I was pleased to wecome to Stoke the Director General of the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), Paul Smee. CML is an influential trade body which speaks on behalf of UK lenders and clearly there is currently plenty to talk about. Paul and I discussed the implications of the FSAs mortgage market review, the importance of local mutuals in providing diversity in the marketplace, the plight of first-time buyers and the regenerative potential of housing initiatives. As Paul is a Crystal Palace fan we didn't dwell on football too long! Hopefully our meeting compelled Paul to believe that local mutuals such as The Hanley continue to punch above our weight in delivering great service to our members and that we remain a potent force in our local communities. Today I am hosting a visit from senior executives at the Scottish Building Society, a similarly sized society to ourselves but with a far more extensive territory and a huge agency network. The purpose of the visit is to learn from each other and to compare priorities and performance in our respective businesses. One of the enduring strengths of the mutual sector is that willingness to communiacte with and learn from others and I really hope that our visitors from SBS feel rewarded having made such a long trip south.In contrast the other important visitors to Stoke today are Valencia FC and I hope they have no such warm feeling after tonights Europa League match with Stoke City FC. I am taking a couple of guests to this historic game and I hope that the Potters can rise to this very special occasion.David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-8317453596266904552012-01-25T08:14:00.002+00:002012-01-25T08:30:14.261+00:00FORUM FEEDBACKWe held our first Customer Forum of 2012 on Saturday morning with 20 of our members quizzing me on a range of topics. I really enjoy these sessions and am constantly surpised by the depth of feeling amongst local people on key issues in our marketplace.We have been holding these Forums for several years now and of course the low interest rate environment for savers is a recurring theme, but other matters came to the foreground on Saturday, notably the impact on the mutual sector of potential contagion from the eurozone and the need to persist in our efforts to assist local first-time buyers. Obviously hosting a Form every few months helps me to understand how The Hanley is viewed by members , meeting them personally and with no formal agenda, but it also influences my thinking on member appreciation of the risks we face in our business.If ever complacency were to creep in ( and I'm never normally accused of that !) then a brisk Customer Forum session is sure to refresh and revitalise. The highlight of Saturdays Customer Forum was talking proudly of our recruitment in January of two new apprentices, Jordan (16) and Lauren (17). Aside from making us all feel very old, these new recruits epitomise our optimism for the future and our commitment to developing our own talent to meet the many challenges we face in the future.David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-69190180744568114272011-12-29T11:19:00.002+00:002011-12-29T11:32:58.236+00:00THE MYTH OF TALENTHaving 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.David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-29690245519685255192011-12-02T12:59:00.002+00:002011-12-02T13:39:36.308+00:00REASONS TO BE CHEERFULOver 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.David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-58793156586382191372011-11-07T15:12:00.002+00:002011-11-07T15:31:29.425+00:00STAFF SURVEYI'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.David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-51319669271853375992011-10-04T13:46:00.002+01:002011-10-04T14:11:46.971+01:00BOOKSTORES ARE GREATI 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)<br />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.David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2597087208666751790.post-52646153802574158992011-08-30T13:31:00.003+01:002011-08-30T14:39:47.068+01:00"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.
<br />David Websterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07469649737882005639noreply@blogger.com0