How much did changing the logo from Robin of Sherwood to the new one cost? Why couldn't that money be used to better to give better rates on our money? Rather now having to change logos, etc. seems to be a waste of money when times are tough. Thank you

We will be moving to the new brand over a number of years. So far we have spent around £1m on implementing the new brand. This is in the context of the £154m we made in interest payments to our saver customers in 2024.

Why were customers not consulted about the new logo?

We carried out a number of focus groups with members, both existing savings and mortgage members, over many months. We took their views into consideration when we developed our plans.

I really feel the need to express my dissatisfaction with your new branding logo.I was born and bred in Nottingham, the city of Robin Hood. The Nottingham Building Society was always known for the Robin Hood logo. I do not understand why you have changed something, which in my opinion wasn't broke. I really do hope that you reconsider this and revert back to the Robin Hood logo.  

Robin Hood is a really big part of Nottingham itself, as opposed to the building society. Interestingly, neither university refers to Robin, but we appreciate that when you are removing something, it can evoke strong emotions. Robin Hood as a logo and a name is used in many places.

The society was founded 175 years ago by Samuel Fox. Will we come back to Nottingham Building Society? It’s unlikely, as it is quite polarizing in terms of whether associating with him is a good thing or a bad thing for the building society itself. 

But what has not changed is our commitment to Nottingham as our home city, head office our branches and our local areas.  

Why is there no facility to play by card at branches? You can only put money into your account by cash or cheque. This is like the dark ages.

As of now, there is only one outlet in Sheffield to do business. It would be a lot easier if we could use a debit card.  

Thank you for your questions. We appreciate this is frustrating.  

We would like to offer the facilities to allow deposits by card in branch, but unfortunately some way down the list of tech priorities at the moment. It's something we will prioritize in the future.  

But we have to sequence some other technical builds before we can enable that to happen. What we have been able to do, though, is to enable customers to open an account in branch and then transfer money in at a later date using their bank's telephone or online banking service to switch money into the new branch accounts. You don't need to use a debit card, but can make a payment to transfer funds. This has proved popular with members.

Have the board any plans to roll out internet access to mortgage customers? A read only balance or statement would be so helpful. 

Not at the moment. But we know it would be a good thing to do. It's on our list of priorities, but it's not imminent as we have other priorities to update first. 

Will you be creating an online service currently that has minimal access?

We do have online savings products, but they are not linked to the branch systems. We are investing heavily in a multi-year upgrade of our IT systems to enable us to improve member processes and experience across the society, including the development of new digital capabilities. We will do these as quickly as we can. 

How much of members reserves have been spent on staff settlement agreements and restructuring in the last 24 months?  

The numbers are in the annual report and accounts and show that our restructuring costs relating to salaries and wages across the group related to £1.2m in 2024. As context, our overall people costs over the same period were £28.5m. 

As with many businesses, as we continue to grow and we develop the society, we're bringing new people in with new capabilities and new experiences, and what we need changes. As a result, sometimes we have to say goodbye to colleagues, who regrettably, we can't retrain into a new role. And it's really important that in those situations, we treat those people fairly, whether that's through redundancies or financial settlements. This is part of the cost of doing business. 

What is the cost of the executive board in 2024 versus 2023

The figures for executive pay are disclosed in the annual report and accounts. They're on page 70. And they're also in page 25 of the members newsletter. 

The numbers are £1.2m in 2024 versus £1m in 2023. And the reason for the difference in the accounts? The Executive Board consists of Sue, Anthony Murphy and Simon Baum. And the reason for the difference is that Simon Baum was there for part of the year in 2023, whereas he was there for the full year in 2024. 

So they're not a like for like comparison. As context, our executive pay went up by 2% last year. And that compares with the broader pay for our colleagues, which went up between 4 and 8% for a broader population of colleagues during the year.

What is the average tenure of the Executive Board in 2025? 

The average length of service of the three executive directors is four years. Sue has been with us for three years and four months. Simon Baum who initially joined the board as a non-executive in 2018, became executive in May of last year. So Simon has been with us for six years and ten months, but in three different or two different capacities. Our CFO Anthony Murphy has been with us for two years and a month. 

What does the word median mean in relation to the Directors pay report? 

In the reporting we are required to, at certain times to express, according to different ways that the average is calculated. And sometimes it's the median average, and sometimes it's against the mode average.  

So when you're comparing against the median or a mode, it depends whether you're comparing against the middle person or the total divided by the number of people. It's different ways of calculating an average.

Our question is this being that you are the only bank building society in our busy town now, is there any chance you will be supplying the people of Belper with a cash machine outside your premises, as we are in desperate need of one that works efficiently, and I'm sure it would be a great help to all your customers. 

Unfortunately we are not currently considering adding new cash machines. We do recognize the importance of access to cash, in the communities that we operate in, especially those where banks and cash machines have been closing down or in short supply. 

We have been members of NBS for quite a few years and very much appreciate being able to use the Retford branch for our savings. It is very important to us to be able to discuss our finances face to face. So you will understand when I say our greatest concern is if NBS goes the way of many others and close this branch, the Retford branch has always given expert and friendly advice as we are both in our 80s. This is very important to us and I'm sure to many others in our position. I sincerely hope this will be important to you as well. 

Thank you for recognising our Retford Branch team and thank you to all of our colleagues, for whom we receive lots of fantastic feedback. Our branch network is incredibly important to us because of the value it brings to our members. We continue to invest in the network highlighted by the branch relocation in the city centre, which will be taking place in June of this year. 

The most important thing, is that branches are used. Provided these branches are well used, which is one of the reasons why we need a strong brand and great service to actually draw people in, we will continue to keep them open and to invest in them. 

Will members who hold a fixed rate bond be given preferential rates for reinvestment upon maturity?

Why haven't you got slightly better savings rates for people who keep their savings with you year after year? 

Firstly, whether you're an online or branch member, we pay the same rates for the same products and terms. 

This may not seem like a big thing, but many organizations pay better rates online than they do in branches. If you are a maturing member, you will always be offered at least the same as new members, which is again different to many organizations. Returning our loyal savings members is important to us, and we aim to ensure we pay our members as good a rate as we can, and we provide great service. In addition to Passbooks.  

What are the opportunities for mergers with other societies? 

So mergers can be a great thing to do, although they are always incredibly hard work and are always a very large distraction. But I do know there have been quite a few, so I understand why you're asking that question. 

To make it worthwhile, they have to be attractive to do strategically.  We have a strong strategy, which is starting to demonstrate great growth. 

We do need to continue to grow. But 2025, as I mentioned earlier, is a consolidation year having grown faster than any of our peer group over the last two years. We are committed to growth and to the strategy. We would never say never to a merger, but it would need to be something that adds value to our members over time. 

The board members’ policy appears to be to outsource as many operations as possible. What further outsourcing is planned during the next three years?  

As a relatively small organization, 550 people, we do need to outsource some of our services to enable us to access the expertise and technology that we need in today's marketplace. We see this as a positive thing because it enables us to provide better capabilities than we might be able to afford to run ourselves and a better service to our members. 

Outsourcing generally is not a key part of our strategy, but partnerships and creating value through those is part of our strategy. 

Net stable funding ratio, also known as an SFR. May I assume that we prefer to calculate the end SFR, but do not publish the exact figures as part of MSAs? Pillar three. 

The NSFR is no longer a requirement for the Society; however, it continues to be calculated and was reported in the Annual Report & Accounts.  

To better reflect the risk to mutual societies, the newly introduced Retail Deposit Ratio assesses retail deposits as a proportion of total funding, preventing reliance on excessive wholesale funding. 

The Society has a comprehensive Risk Management Framework in place ensuring that risk management remains key. The Society’s Treasury Team assesses liquidity daily by analysing the maturity profile of all Balance Sheet elements (incl. Savings, Lending, Wholesale Funding and Derivatives), noting that this is done at a more granular level than the NSFR metric.  

The assets include 69 million pounds at fair value and 11.9 million pounds unmatched, equalling a total of 80.9 million pounds. The liabilities include 11 million pounds at fair value and 11.9 million pounds unmatched. A total of 22.9 million pounds. Does this flatter the balance sheet by roughly 60 million pounds, please?  

The net derivative Fair Value of c.£58m is not considered to flatter the Balance Sheet as within this balance is c.£18.5m of accrued interest which has / will be subsequently settled and a corresponding offset of c.£34.5m associated with the items these derivatives are hedging (specifically: fixed rate mortgages; treasury assets; and savings accounts). The remaining difference relates to ineffectiveness, the fair value associated with unmatched swaps and amortisation adjustments. Hence, the net impact is much lower with corresponding offsets included in other Balance Sheet items. 

We have enough shares to cover all the borrowings, so why please, always so highly hedged and what are the unmatched contracts?  

Whilst the amount of member shares in £ terms is sufficient to cover the funding requirement of lending balances, the tenor of this funding does not naturally match the lending balances. As such, given the need for the Society to prudently manage its interest rate gaps, derivatives are used as one of the tools to manage this risk. 

From an accounting perspective, unmatched contracts primarily relate to a timing difference between when a derivative is transacted and when the derivative forms an effective match with an on-Balance Sheet item; noting that there are limitations within the accounting standard which means that hedge relationships cannot be formed with mortgages whilst they are in the pipeline; which means that derivatives remain unmatched for a period of time. 

Do we need so much wholesale funding ?   

As a mutual organisation run for the benefit of its members, the Society has and will continue to be predominantly retail funded; however, as part of risk management it is important that the Society maintains a diverse mix of funding options that does not overly rely on any one type of funding.  

The Society ensures that no more than 20% of its Balance Sheet funding will be acquired via wholesale sources, which consist of: 

• Central Bank facilities; 
• Secured Funding facilities; and 
• Local Authority / Building Society Term Deposits 

In February 2025, the Society successfully issued its first public Residential Mortgage-Backed Securitisation, which enabled early repayment of the Bank of England’s TFSME scheme which was due to mature throughout 2025.  

Wholesale funding helps to address the over reliance on retail deposits and supports in lengthening the tenor of funding on the Balance Sheet, enabling the Society to possess and benefit from an optimal diversified funding strategy. 

Do we have to pay the BOE levy? We seem to have more than 600 million pounds in eligible liabilities in line with peers.  

In line with its peers, the Society is subject to the BoE Levy. The levy is used to fund the Bank of England's policy functions related to monetary policy and financial stability. 

The FSCS is in danger of becoming a vast moral hazard. How have we reserved for any contingencies in this regard?

The Society does not provide for anything in addition to the annual fees. From an accounting perspective, any contingent 'reserve' would unlikely meet the definition of a provision and as such it hasn’t been booked. 

It is important to note that the Society continues to prioritise the safeguarding of its depositors’ funds at all times regardless of the FSCS being in place. 

Are we making representations to ensure the burden of FSCS cash recoveries does not fall on us?

At this point in time, we do not feel there is a need to make any specific representations. 

Has the Nottingham Building Society had any communications with the Serious Fraud Office, (SFO) regarding the directors of Philips Trust Corporation? Furthermore, does the Nottingham intend to pursue any further action, including private prosecutions against those responsible for the harm caused to its members, too?  

What is the role of the Board consumer duty champion?  Is this a job role that's unique to Nottingham Building Society? 

Until recently it was a regulatory requirement from the FCA. But, they're now no longer going to require that by regulation. But we are going to continue with that role.