Principality Building Society

The Society was formed in Cardiff in 1860 under the lengthy name of the Principality Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Society; the “Benefit” was dropped in 1876 when it incorporated under the 1874 Building Society Act, and to its present name in 1913. The trustees were local dignitaries and the directors largely tradesmen and merchants. It did not have its first office until 1870 and although it had an early agency, it remained a small local society. Despite this, the Principality was able to claim to be “the largest by far in Wales and the West of England” when it gave evidence to a House of Commons Committee in 1893. By 1910, the Society had some 6,000 accounts and was large enough to have its own office in 1914. It was not until the 1930s that the Society appeared to make any significant move away from Cardiff, when branches were opened in Swansea and Barry in 1934. Given the boom in private housing and the subsequent impact of inflation, the Society’s asset growth remained modest – from £2m in 1932 to £3m in 1947. Expansion from the 1930s appeared to come mainly from agencies and by 1960 these totalled around 50. [2]

From 1960 the pace of expansion appeared to increase. Important branch openings were Chester in 1960 and London in 1963. The Principality also began to acquire smaller Welsh societies, three between 1959 and 1968. During that decade assets grew from £9m to £34m. In the 1970s there were a further five acquisitions but a much greater emphasis on organic expansion through new branches – over 20 in the decade. Branch openings continued through the 1980s and in 1991 assets reached £1billion. By then, the branch network was established and although there was the occasional new opening, the asset growth came from its existing structure, with private mortgage lending supplemented by the formation of a commercial lending division in 2002. Today, those assets stand at £10m.[3]

Principality acquired Parkhurst and Peter Alan estate agents in 1987, and the merged entity was later sold to Connells Group for £16.4m in 2014.[4] A site for a new head office to accommodate the expanding business was acquired in 1989 and Principality House in The Friary was opened in 1992.[5][6]

The company acquired Loan Link Limited in 2004. This gave Nemo Personal Finance Ltd, a subsidiary, the opportunity to launch in 2005. In 2013 the company acquired Mead Property Services (covering Buckinghamshire, Berkshire and Oxfordshire) and Thomas George (covering Cardiff and south Wales).

On 8 September 2015, Principality Building Society announced that they had purchased the naming rights to the Millennium Stadium in a 10-year deal. Since 1 January 2016 it has been known as the Principality Stadium.[7]

Principality Stadium, earlier known as the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff