Holmesdale BS to merge with Skipton BS
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patientperson
Posts: 481 Forumite
Letter received this morning.
Another minnow to bite the dust.
Voting in July's Holmsdale AGM .. merger expected in October 2018.
No further details in the letter.
Interested parties can phone 0800 0499 946 or emali merger@the holmesdale.co.uk
https://www.theholmesdale.co.uk/proposed-merger/
Another minnow to bite the dust.
Voting in July's Holmsdale AGM .. merger expected in October 2018.
No further details in the letter.
Interested parties can phone 0800 0499 946 or emali merger@the holmesdale.co.uk
https://www.theholmesdale.co.uk/proposed-merger/
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Comments
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patientperson wrote: »Letter received this morning.
Another minnow to bite the dust.
Voting in July's Holmsdale AGM .. merger expected in October 2018.
No further details in the letter.
Interested parties can phone 0800 0499 946 or emali merger@the holmesdale.co.uk
https://www.theholmesdale.co.uk/proposed-merger/
Just in case others were wondering:
Q4. Will there be a bonus paid to members on completion of the merger?
No. In order to maintain the financial strength of the enlarged Society there will be no bonus payment to members on the merger taking effect0 -
Q3. Will rates on savings or borrowing products be affected?
Savings and borrowing rates for members of the Holmesdale are expected to improve or remain unchanged, but will not worsen as a result of the merger. Following the proposed merger, Holmesdale owner occupied residential borrowers paying the Society!!!8217;s current Standard Variable Rate (SVR) of 4.99% should benefit from moving to Skipton!!!8217;s prevailing Mortgage Variable Rate (MVR) of 4.74%, if they pay by direct debit. There is no guarantee of what the Holmesdale SVR and the Skipton MVR will be up to the date of merger or what the MVR of the Skipton will be after the merger.0 -
Holmesdale BS has been around since 1855 - 162 years. It survived the Crimean war, the Boer War, WWI and WWII. Sadly no place in today's world - adding to a long list of local socieiies that have disappeared.
Still the Skipton get some prime real estate in Reigate town centre!0 -
Holmesdale BS has been around since 1855 - 162 years. It survived the Crimean war, the Boer War, WWI and WWII. Sadly no place in today's world - adding to a long list of local socieiies that have disappeared.
Still the Skipton get some prime real estate in Reigate town centre!
And members, as usual, get nothing, not to mention the poor head office staff who are losing their jobs. If I were a member I would vote against. However, no doubt the resolution will sail through with a 90%+ in favour.0 -
I'm sympathetic to anyone being made redundant but just out of interest, why do you feel that members should get something here?longleggedhair wrote: »And members, as usual, get nothing, not to mention the poor head office staff who are losing their jobs. If I were a member I would vote against. However, no doubt the resolution will sail through with a 90%+ in favour.0 -
The Holmesdale's 2017 annual Financial Statements reported that this BS has £16.2 million of "total reserves attributable to Members of the Society", i.e. excess of assets over liabilities, or equity. Having no shareholders, the members are the owners and get to vote on any disposition of their property. As a member myself, I have reservations that the management is proposing effectively to donate these financial resources to the Skipton BS, in return for little else but Skipton undertaking to keep the Reigate branch open for at least two years. If this BS is no longer really viable on a standalone basis (surprising as until now we've been given a contrary impression), I would be more inclined to have it sell the business (to a "challenger bank "?) and distribute the cash proceeds to members. Alternatively, to ensure keeping a BS branch in Reigate for the longer term, wouldn't it make more sense to transfer the business to Nationwide BS, which already has a Reigate branch and would therefore gain a greater critical mass of local customers. I'm curious if the Skipton route might just happen to be the most generous in terms of redundancy payments. Anyhow, the notion of mutuality among BS members seems to be in jeopardy here.0
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Quite.
Holmesdale's pricing isn't the best but it's close.
I have a Regular Saver Issue 3 at 2.25% - I notice that it's no longer offered.
All seems unplanned - the branch has just been refurbished at some cost.
Skipton is saying the branch will be reviewed after 2 years.
How can a building society go from being viable to not viable so quickly?0 -
It is just a complete give away of £13.5 million in reserves to Skipton BS .. now that BS is a real carpetbagger.
The following is an extract from the Holmesdale statement:
Savings and borrowing rates for members of the Holmesdale are expected to improve or remain unchanged, but will not worsen as a result of the merger.
One need only look at the savings interest rates at the Skipton BS website to reveal a very unattractive range on offer.
Skipton BS do not have any regular saver accounts so we can assume that savers will lose out when their Holmesdale RS come to an end.
Skipton BS have offered nothing at all .. the BS already has a presence in that area.
Value for the members? .. not in my view at all.0 -
As a member of the merged society, at the same time as the members of S got access to H's reserves, the members of H would get access to S's reserves (presumably somewhat greater than £13.5m). Those reserves together with the 'economies of scale' would presumably (theoretically) allow you to still get a decent service and keep being offered competitive products.patientperson wrote: »It is just a complete give away of £13.5 million in reserves to Skipton BS .. now that BS is a real carpetbagger.
The test is not really whether the products are as competitive or better in October as they are today, but whether they are as competitive in five years time as they would have been without the merger. With a million members funding the infrastructure you can get lower costs per head than if you just pick the customers in a local area. Surviving the Boer War is one thing, continuing to provide competitive 21st century banking services in the face of competitors with billion pound profits or trillion dollar balance sheets is another.
The detailed proposals will not be out until the summer. Of course it's quite possible that it's a terrible deal for members other than the ones who vote it through, but some deeper analysis than 'they don't have an RS account and change is generally unwelcome' is probably required.Value for the members? .. not in my view at all.0 -
Having been a member of Skipton BS for 19 years I rarely see any savings rates which can be described as good or even competitive.
With regard to Skipton BS membership I can see your point but need to remind you that Skipton have already a record of membership selection when it suited them. This refers to their sale of a subsidiary (circa 2000) where not all members of the society benefited.
Along with many others on this forum I am interested in all RS accounts and my comment merely points out that Skipton BS do not offer such a product. It will therefore necessary for some Holmesdale savers to open an alternative Skiption account or they will lose their Skipton BS membership gained as a result of the merger.
As for change is unwelcome .. being an existing Skipton BS member there is no change for me personally.0
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