Reviewing the last year, he said “we entered troubled waters in a fundamentally sound vessel. Societies generally are well capitalised, highly liquid and prudent businesses.”
He went on to say that societies “have high levels of consumer trust, a trust built on delivering value to our members. The sector dominated the best buy tables again last year and collectively we delivered more than
£1bn worth of member benefits, and we consistently outscore the banks when it comes to quality of service.”
On the lending side, he said that societies share of net lending was up from 19% in 2007 to 25% in the first quarter of 2008. In a difficult market, and contrary to popular misconception, every society continued to lend last month.
But Cornish also said that building societies will in the future have to operate in a lower growth and higher risk environment than before. The economy has started to slow, the housing market has weakened and consumer confidence is precariously balanced.
Cornish was handing over to John Goodfellow, Chief Executive of the Skipton Building Society, who has been elected Chairman of the Building Societies Association for 2008/09. Neville Richardson, Chief Executive of Britannia Building Society, has taken over as Deputy Chairman from Goodfellow.
