The Society was founded in Woolwich in 1847 as the Woolwich Equitable Benefit Building and Investment Association, one of the first permanentbuilding societies. Previously it had been active as a temporary society since 1842. Its establishment constituted an important stage in the history of mutualism in Woolwich. The Woolwich was one of the largest UK building societies and was famous in the 1980s for its entertaining TV advertising incorporating the slogan "I'm with the Woolwich". From 1984 to 1992, The Woolwich sponsored Charlton Athletic F.C. at a time that included their departure from the outdated Valley stadium in September 1985 and the club's promotion to the Football League First Division the following May, continuing for two years after the relegation in 1990. The Woolwich Equitable Building Society demutualised in 1997, giving up its mutual status to become a bank: Woolwich PLC was formed, giving shares to investing and borrowing members of the society, and listing on the LondonStock Exchange. In August 2000, Barclays took over Woolwich PLC in a £5.4bn acquisition. Woolwich PLC thus joined the Barclays Bank Group of companies. The Woolwich brand-name was retained after the acquisition, and the Woolwich head office remained in Bexleyheath, south-east London, 4.5 mi from the original office in Woolwich. On 28 June 2006, Barclays announced that The Woolwich was to become the Barclays UK mortgage brand, supported by Barclays branches, and that Woolwich branches would be either closed or re-branded as Barclays. Associated changes to call centres affected up to 1,200 jobs, mostly at The Woolwich contact centre in Clacton-on-Sea, which closed at the end of 2007. Although the Woolwich name lived on as the brand used for Barclays mortgages, this was discontinued in 2015.
Headquarters
The Woolwich Equitable Building Society started in Powis Street, Woolwich, where it occupied various premises. From 1896 until 1935 it was headquartered at a purpose-built corner office at 111-113 Powis Street, after which it moved to larger premises at Eakes Place, now Equitable House at General Gordon Square. In 1989 it moved to new headquarters in nearby Bexleyheath, alongside the society's main administration and computer centre which had been based at the corner of Watling Street and Erith Road for many years. Following the takeover by Barclays, the Bexleyheath head office closed in 2005. In 2014 the Woolwich's former Head Office became the Civic Offices of Bexley London Borough Council. Equitable House continued as a branch office until 2007. In 2010–11 it was converted into a commercial building by Sundridge Investments, with a pub, a cafe and shops on the ground floor, and the upper floors rented out to Maritime Greenwich College, later South London College.
