Partner Article

Darlington chief apologises to savers

The outgoing chairman of Darlington Building Society has made a public apology to its members for the society’s £2.5m annual loss. William Baker Baker said the past financial year had been the most difficult the company had experienced in its 152 year history.

Referring to the building society’s first ever loss, he said: “The board regrets that we have made a first loss in our society’s history and I would like to say sorry to our members.”

Mr Baker Baker, who is being replaced by Christopher Fleetwood, said the loss should be set against reserves of £38m the society had, adding: “This does not endanger the society nor will it have any impact on members’ savings. Investors should be assured that their money is safe.”

The society has blamed the loss on its house building subsidiary Darlington Homes, against which it was forced to write off £3.4m last year.

It was also obliged to pay £700,000, a levy placed on it by the FinancialServices Compensation Scheme.

New chief executive David Dodd said the board and senior management had developed a ‘robust’ plan to take the society forward and predicted a small profit by the end of the year.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .