A brief background to Nationwide Building Society

A product of the great population migrations of the Industrial Revolution, building societies emerged in the 1770’s when workers formed societies to save for land and materials with which to build their own homes.

By 1880 the number of building societies grew rapidly and many became permanent home loan and savings institutions, paying interest to savers and charging borrowers for money loaned.

Since the late 19th century, the industry has seen hundreds of mergers which have resulted in today’s national societies. Nationwide's own origins lie jointly in Northampton (1848) and within the co-operative movement in London (1883).

Today’s Nationwide Building Society is the product of over 100 mergers, the most notable being the merger between Nationwide and the Anglia Building Society in 1987. Nationwide Building Society is now the UK's largest building society.