Manchester Building Society
The Manchester Building Society is a building society, which has its head office in Manchester, England. Its head office and only branch in Manchester City Centre at 125 Portland Street and it has many agencies around the country operating on its behalf.
 | |
| Type | Building Society (Mutual) |
|---|---|
| Industry | Banking and Financial Services |
| Founded | 1922 |
| Headquarters | Manchester, England, UK |
| Products | Savings, Mortgages |
£4.3 million GBP (December 2007),  24.5% on 2006 | |
| Total assets | £792 million GBP (December 2007), 17.2% on 2006 |
| Website | www.themanchester.co.uk |
It is a member of the Building Societies Association and Financial Ombudsman Service, as well as being protected by the FSCS deposit guarantee scheme.
As a mutual, they are owned by and operated for their members.
They self-proclaim to operate a streamlined organisation, based in the heart of Manchester with a network of agencies. Which they assert allows them to keep costs to a minimum and pass on the benefits to members.
More recently, they have been forced by their regulator, the PRA, to no longer undertake new lending following a capital shortfall as a result of historic accounting errors. They still service historic mortgages and continue to accept new deposits from customers and businesses, which are protected by the FSCS guarantee scheme.
The society have continually taken predecessor auditors, Grant Thornton, whom they believe to have acted negligent and ultimately resulting in their capital concerns, to court. Towards the end of 2018 they were awarded a negligible sum versus the initial claim, and forced to pay Grant Thornton’s costs which were far in excess of the award. The society are understood to be in continuing talks with their regulator, the PRA, as to next steps. The society confirmed at the start of 2019 that there continues to be uncertainty around their long-term future.
The society were subsequently audited by KPMG, shortly after which they were replaced by PwC who continue to audit them to date - both part of the global and local ‘Big 4’, of which Grant Thornton is not a constituent.