Business As Usual (CityAM)
Inaugural episode of Business As Usual, a new podcast from CityAM with Matt Kenyon and Martin Kimber. Starting at 7m 11s, their guest City Editor Simon Hunt turns to the topic of Nationwide.
Press
Nationwide should give its boardroom challenger a fair run (The Guardian)
James Sherwin-Smith’s candidacy is a test of the building society’s commitment to mutual values By Nils Pratley, Finance EditorMon 27 Apr 2026 19.05 BST Link: https://www.theguardian.com/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2026/apr/27/nationwide-should-give-its-boardroom-challenger-a-fair-run James Sherwin-Smith, who is aiming to become the first customer to be voted onto the board of Nationwide in nearly 25 years, deserves top marks for perseverance. A year […]
LBC radio news segment
27 April 2026 15:35 “The Nationwide Building Society could have one of its customers in its boardroom for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century. The society is owned by 9 million savers and borrowers, who elect the directors who oversee the business. One customer, James Sherwin-Smith from West Sussex, has secured […]
Nationwide makes historic announcement for all 17 million customers (BirminghamLive)
Nationwide faces an AGM in July after one of its longtime members secured enough support for a spot on the lender’s annual ballot. By James Rodger, Content Editor09:57, 27 Apr 2026 Link: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/cost-of-living/nationwide-makes-historic-announcement-17-33842956 Nationwide could have its first customer on its board for nearly 25 years. Nationwide, which has branches in Birmingham, faces an AGM in […]
Nationwide faces board challenge from member (The Times)
A campaigning customer has secured a board ballot spot for Nationwide for the first time in 21 years By Ben Martin, Banking Editor Link: https://www.thetimes.com/business/companies-markets/article/nationwide-faces-board-challenge-from-member-hgw5t6twz About nine million members of Nationwide will have the opportunity to elect one of their own to the board of the mutual for the first time in 21 years after […]
Member candidate cleared to stand for Nationwide board (The Mail)
By Patrick Tooher, Consultant City Editor Link: https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-15767241/Member-candidate-cleared-stand-Nationwide-board.html Nationwide is to hold its first vote in over two decades to elect a member-nominated candidate to the building society’s board. In a surprise move Britain’s biggest financial mutual, which is owned by its 16million members, has agreed to allow campaigner James Sherwin-Smith’s name to go on […]
Nationwide could have first customer on board for nearly 25 years (The Guardian)
James Sherwin-Smith will be up for election after securing more than 250 nominations to run alongside existing directors Kalyeena Makortoff, Banking correspondentMon 27 Apr 2026 07.00 BST Link: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/apr/27/nationwide-first-customer-on-board-nearly-25-years Nationwide building society could have a customer on its board for the first time in nearly a quarter of a century after one of its longtime […]
Public statement
LONDON, 27 APRIL 2026 07:00 – Nationwide Building Society has confirmed that I have receivedthe required valid nominations and will appear on the ballot for election to the Board at the2026 AGM. This creates the opportunity for Nationwide Members to elect a Member Nominated Directorfor the first time in over 20 years, at an important […]
Let him stand (The Times)
From today’s edition (31 March 2026) of The Times, Patrick Hosking, Financial Editor, writes in his business column: Let him stand “James Sherwin-Smith may or may not be a suitable director of the Nationwide Building Society. But what should not be in doubt is his right to put his name forward as a candidate. “Yesterday […]
Nationwide’s poor voter turnout shows the feeling isn’t mutual (The Times)
The UK’s largest building society has a 4% response at its AGM, raising questions about engagement with its 16.4m members
Nationwide pumps £1bn into Clydesdale Bank after Virgin Money deal (The Mail)
Patrick Tooher, writing for the Mail on Sunday / This is Money: Nationwide has pumped more than £1 billion into Virgin Money’s Clydesdale Bank to prop up the struggling Scottish lender, The Mail on Sunday can reveal. The huge injection is far higher than the £650 million previously reported, and comes as Britain’s biggest building […]
Nationwide building society’s members deserve real votes (The Guardian)
Nils Pratley, sharing his opinion, following the Nationwide AGM: Governance needs overhaul after there was no vote on Virgin Money takeover and vote on CEO’s £7m pay was only advisory “There’s no one else quite like us,” goes the refrain at Nationwide as it champions the virtues of being a big building society rather than a big […]
Nationwide’s self-righteousness has been exposed as a sham (The Telegraph)
Ben Marlow (Associate Editor), writing in the Telegraph, in the run up to the 2025 AGM: The mutual’s readiness to ride roughshod over the will of its members goes against everything it claims to be Who said banking was boring? One glance at Nationwide’s website and you might wonder if you were in the company […]
Nationwide faces member backlash over boardroom cronyism (The Telegraph)
Michael Bow, Chief City Correspondent, writing in The Telegraph ahead of the 2025 AGM: Building society under fire over claims it is stopping ordinary members from joining board Nationwide is facing a backlash over boardroom cronyism after claims it has rebuffed attempts to allow ordinary members of the building society to join its board. The […]
Save our shareholder meetings (Daily Mail)
This Is Money / Mail on Sunday has launched a campaign today to save shareholder meetings, as it is rightly concerned that virtual AGMs limit the ability for owners from holding organisations to account, and may even be illegal. The timing couldn’t be better given Nationwide members still have the opportunity to vote and attend […]
Anger as Nationwide refuses members a binding vote on boss’s 43% pay hike (The Guardian)
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 […]
Number crunching and Nationwide CEO’s “best-timed gong” (Private Eye)
Private Eye (issue 1652, page 8) draws attention to the award of a damehood to Debbie Crosbie, Nationwide CEO, under the title of “KING’S BIRTHDAY TREATS: Honours round-up.” If you’re a Nationwide member, and don’t agree with paying a mutual society CEO 280x what a junior member of staff receives, you may want to use […]
“Nationwide’s mutual ethos is now under threat” (The Telegraph)
My thanks to Michael Bow at the Telegraph for a long article examining the impact Dame Debbie Crosbie is having at Nationwide building society. Read the full article here (25 June 2025): How Nationwide’s £7m boss became Britain’s most controversial banker Michael quoted me throughout the article, sharing some of my concerns with regard to […]
Don’t turn up! Big firms bar investors from AGMs (Daily Mail)
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) […]
“He is asking a lot of the right questions” (The Times)
My thanks to Patrick Hosking at The Times for putting Nationwide’s recent “big thank you” payment under scrutiny, and for this final paragraph. Read his article in the Times: Nationwide is paying out £600m to its members. But should it be? (19 March 2025) I rather liked this final paragraph: “Sherwin-Smith is too purist about […]