Elect James Sherwin-Smith to represent Nationwide building society members
Nationwide Building Society introduced the “Quick vote” (QV) mechanism in 2006. This was the year after the last Member Nominated Candidate stood for election in 2005. Since that time, there have been no Member Nominated Candidates and no Member Resolutions put forward, so the use of the QV hasn’t been tested in the situation where […]
An excellent article regarding Eliza Orme was published in The Times this week. She is believed to be one of the first women to become a director of a building society, when she co-founded the Nineteenth Century Building Society in 1880. It inspired me to write this brief history of female directors at Nationwide Building […]
I hand delivered 340+ Member nominations in support of my candidacy to Nationwide Building Society HQ in sunny Swindon today. I now await feedback from Nationwide as to whether I have 250 valid nominations from eligible Members, and can therefore be listed on the Ballot ahead of the online-only AGM, on 15th July 2026. If […]
Alongside delivering the required nominations, and a £500 deposit, candidates for election to the board have the opportunity to include an election address of up to 500 words. This is as per Rule 31 of Nationwide’s Memorandum and Rules and Section 61 of the Building Societies Act (1986), as amended. Below the line is the […]
I thought a summary of recent board changes ahead of this summer’s AGM would be helpful to share as there has been a fair amount of change over the last 18 months. Background Each year, Nationwide members are asked to (re-)elect board directors. Ballot papers and online forms are circulated by the society to members […]
Why the building society’s remuneration vote is advisory, dominated by the Quick Vote, and supported by just 4% of members. At last year’s AGM, the increased package for the CEO of up to £7m was branded by one member as an “obscenity”, as reported at the time in The Guardian. Private Eye noticed at the […]
You might have seen reports in the press this week that the High Court has approved the transfer of Virgin Money’s business into Nationwide (e.g. The Sun, The Mirror). This was a legal application made by Nationwide to transfer nearly all assets, liabilities and customers of Clydesdale Bank plc (trading as Virgin Money) into Nationwide. […]
[Originally posted on Linkedin] The Government recently announced that it is “pressing ahead with plans to allow Virtual AGMs“. In my view this would be a backward step, both for the UK, and for Corporate Governance standards. Before you think that the above is simply HMG support for hybrid (combined physical and virtual) meetings, think […]
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has fined Nationwide Building Society £44,078,500 after identifying serious weaknesses in the society’s anti-money laundering (AML) systems and controls (see also reports from Guardian, BBC). The regulator’s Final Notice published on 11 December 2025 states that between October 2016 and July 2021 Nationwide’s financial crime controls were not sufficiently effective, […]
Nationwide building society has historically taken a strong stance, and made some stronger statements, regarding its branch network. Yet branch closures and reduced opening hours are some of the first topics that come up in my conversations with members, staff and former staff. While Nationwide has now promised not to close any Nationwide branches before […]
Kalyeena Makortoff, writing in The Guardian today, has highlighted Nationwide’s blatant double standard when it comes to executive pay. Nationwide is arguing that its executives should be paid in a comparable way to executives at large UK banks, but as Nationwide is a building society, members should not be granted a binding vote on the […]
In the last few days, Nationwide members will have received the Chairman’s letter 2025, inviting members to vote and attend this year’s virtual-only Annual General Meeting (AGM). One claim that stood out for me and I wanted to check its veracity: “Since we made the meeting online, we’ve had the highest member attendance for over […]
With 17 million Nationwide building society members, the majority of whom are presumed to be eligible to vote (i.e. more than some sovereign countries), the “modern” mutual’s 2025 AGM should be a leading example of democracy and corporate governance in action. Instead the largest building society in the world exhibits contempt for its members by […]
Costs related to the Virgin Money bank acquisition continue to rise at Nationwide building society. With years of integration work yet to begin, Nationwide members should be concerned. When the deal was proposed, the building society sought to placate its members (who were calling for a vote) with assurances that the deal represented “good value” […]
Great to read this article from Patrick Tooher in today’s Daily Mail addressing this important topic (which also kindly quoted me). You can read the article online: Don’t turn up! Big firms bar investors from AGMs Limiting the ability for shareholders and members to hold boards to account via online-only (and thus often highly stage-managed) […]
[Updated 29 March 2026] I have the opportunity to include an Election Address of no more than 500 words in support of my candidacy under Rule 22 of Nationwide’s memorandum and rules (see: Process to nominate and elect a Director of Nationwide). The Society Secretary has therefore asked me to deliver this to him at […]
Nationwide announced this week the “Big Nationwide Thank You” – a £50 one-off payment to eligible members. This is entirely separate to the recent annual (but not guaranteed, or clearly defined) Fairer Share Payment. This “thank you” payment is another example as to why members should be more engaged, and members’ perspectives better represented, at […]
Disclaimer: Nothing herein is financial advice. Please do your own research and make your own, informed decisions when selecting a financial product or service. I was asked by Simon English, ex City Editor of The Standard (and Nationwide member) last week what I thought of Nationwide building society’s decision to increase the interest rate on […]
Find Out Now surveyed over 2,000 Nationwide members (who hold at least £200 with Nationwide) on the following question: The board of Nationwide building society doesn’t currently contain any directors directly nominated by the membership. A member wanting to stand for election has applied to contact members to seek their support. If the regulator allows […]
Following the announcement to my professional network on LinkedIn regarding next week’s oral hearing, which linked to the text provided by the FCA, one commentator asked me this: “Why do you need access to the full list (lots of personal data), rather than having Nationwide post out your election comms to the members directly?“ Question […]
The FCA have agreed I can share the following information: An oral hearing will convene on the 26 February 2025 at 11am at 12 Endeavour Square, London, E20 1JN. The hearing will be in-person only and will last approximately 90mins. This hearing is to determine an application to obtain a copy of the register of […]
Following the AGM last summer, and the completion of the Virgin Money acquisition in October, it’s worth noting a few recent changes from a governance perspective. Updated Memorandum and Rules of the society The updated Memorandum and Rules have now been published on the society website with an effective date of 1 September 2024. Pages […]
Pictured: Shelia Heywood presenting a cheque on behalf of Nationwide to Buxton Mountain Rescue in 1989 As I canvass for nominations to support my own candidacy to stand for election as a Director of the Nationwide building society – I am naturally drawn to research those that have attempted this before. Finding information on the […]
While working at Oliver Wyman, I had the privilege to co-author a report titled “Co-operative Bank: Customer Champion” for the European Association of Co-operative Banks in 2008. I wrote this with Mark Weil, who subsequently became the CEO of Marsh UK, and then TMF. With the help of a project team, we had the opportunity […]