What Is the Coventry Building Society?
The Coventry Building Society was started in 1884 and has its head office in Coventry, England. It provides financial services to at least 1 million people and has more than 1,000 employees spread across it 40 locations. It competes directly with banks and offers customers different options for mortgages and saving accounts.
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Significance
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Coventry Building Society is one of the top 10 largest financial institutions within the United Kingdom, and it has accumulated a profit of more than £10 billion. The financial institution's head office in Coventry, West Midlands county, is only two hours by train from London, which is England's capital.
Building Societies
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The term "building society" refers to a group of financial institutions that joined the Building Society Association in the United Kingdom. A key characteristic of building societies is that they are not privately owned but owned by the building society members. Building societies were created to give mortgage and home-lending advice, but they evolved to offer other banking options, such as savings accounts and investment portfolios.
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History
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When started in 1884, Coventry Building Society was known as Coventry Economic Building Society. It was created by a group of Coventry citizens who wanted to provide local people with the ability to get a mortgage and buy a house. The building society continued to grow and by 1915 to 1920 was the most popular building society in the Coventry area.
Acquistion and Name Change
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Coventry Economic Building Society continued to exist through the turbulent time of World War II, and it was not until the early 1980s that it underwent an acquisition of a rival building society, Coventry Provident. After the acquisition, the name was changed from Coventry Economic Building Society to Coventry Building Society.
Logo
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One of Coventry's icons is Lady Godiva. In a popular tale, she was a noblewoman who rode naked through the streets of Coventry to convince her husband she was serious about reducing the taxes on peasants. When it formed, Coventry Building Society used a Lady Godiva logo as a representation of the economic protection it wanted to give its members.
Products and Services
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The main Coventry Building Society products and services include Lady Godiva mortgages, savings accounts, especially for people at retirement age, and travel insurance. Since its creation, the building society opened branches in at least 30 cities other than Coventry. Its management structure is similar to that of other financial institutions with a board of directors to oversee day-to-day operations.
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References
- Photo Credit godiva image by Maria Bell from Fotolia.com
