Elect James Sherwin-Smith to represent Nationwide building society members
Now that I have been successfully nominated for election to the Nationwide Board, one thing is certain: my name will appear on the 2026 ballot paper. What remains uncertain is how, and where, my name will appear, and what impact that will have on my election chances, and the precedent it could set for future […]
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 […]
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 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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
The UK’s largest building society has a 4% response at its AGM, raising questions about engagement with its 16.4m members
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]