Building societies buck downturn

Chris Martin is confident in the future of his firm

The bosses of two West Midlands building societies say they are confident the firms will continue to prosper despite the economic downturn.

Chris Martin, chief executive of the Tipton and Coseley Building Society, said it was doing well and was set for "record savings" in September.

And West Bromwich Building Society head Stephen Karle said the company had planned for the long-term.

Both were certain the firms would not need to be taken over or bailed out.

The chief executives' assurances come during a turbulent period for British financial institutions.

On Monday the government announced that part of the Bradford & Bingley bank was to be nationalised, while two weeks earlier it was revealed that HBOS was being bought by Lloyds TSB.

Stephen Karle believes the firm is bucking the trend

However, Mr Martin said Tipton and Coseley Building Society was "based on independence".

The Tipton is a relatively small player with about 40,000 savers and assets of more than £350m.

Also only people living within the Black Country postcode area can get a mortgage with the building society.

Mr Martin said: "It's a very simple operation and the year is proving to be good for us.

"September should be a record for us in terms of savings."

'Sustainable'

Meanwhile, the 159-year-old West Bromwich Building Society is the UK's seventh largest.

Despite a small drop in profits last year, it has assets of almost £10bn with about 500,000 savers.

Chief executive Mr Karle said he was working to make sure the firm remained "efficient, successful, competitive and sustainable" over the longer term.

And he gave his "complete assurance" the firm would avoid being taken over.

Where traditionally building societies rely on savers to fund mortgages, many which have become banks have hit tougher times.

However, building societies are not completely protected. Earlier this month, the Nationwide took over its smaller building society rivals Derbyshire and Cheshire.