Principality Building Society


The Principality Building Society,, is a building society based in Cardiff, Wales. With assets of £10bn it is the largest building society in Wales and the sixth largest in the United Kingdom. Principality Building Society is mutual, which means it is owned by its members rather than shareholders. It serves clients through the internet and telephone as well as at high street branches. It is a member of the Building Societies Association.

History

It was founded in 1860 in Cardiff by William Sanders as a mutual building society. In 1914 the Principality Buildings were built to house the society. In January 1974 the society acquired the Aberavon Mutual Permanent Building Society. Principality acquired Parkhurst and Peter Alan estate agents in 1987, and the merged entity was later sold to Connells Group for £16.4m in 2014. A site for a new head office to accommodate the expanding business was acquired in 1989 and Principality House in The Friary was opened in 1992.
The company acquired Loan Link Limited in 2004. This gave Nemo Personal Finance Ltd, a subsidiary, the opportunity to launch in 2005. In 2013 the company acquired Mead Property Services and Thomas George.
On 8 September 2015, Principality Building Society announced that they had purchased the naming rights to the Millennium Stadium in a 10-year deal. Since 1 January 2016 it has been known as the Principality Stadium.
in Cardiff

Mergers and acquisitions

The following building societies merged into the Principality Building Society:
It has 53 branches and 18 agencies across Wales and the English border, and employs around 1,100 people. In 2005 it expanded into personal loans with the creation of a new company called Nemo Personal Finance Ltd. In the same year as launching Nemo Loans, Principality revamped its image. It won the 2005 'Business of the Year' award for Wales and the West Country. The assets of the group increased to £4.4bn in the same year and to £6.7bn in 2012.