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Group Profile

Our History

Bradford & Bingley Building Society was formed in 1964 as a result of the merger of the Bradford Equitable Building Society and the Bingley Building Society, both of which were established in 1851. In July 2000 the Society's voting members overwhelmingly endorsed a proposal from the Board of Directors to convert to a public limited company. The flotation on the London Stock Exchange took place on 4 December 2000 and Bradford & Bingley plc ("B&B") was formed.

Our Purpose

When the company was first set up its purpose was clear: to build a better future for the people of northern mill towns. In 1851, we helped our first customer, John Abbey, build a better future for himself and his family by lending him money to buy his own home. We're very proud of our heritage and, in the Bradford & Bingley Group we know today, this heritage continues to shape our business and its purpose. We're still building a better future and we're building it for people right across the UK.

Our Mission

Bradford & Bingley's mission is to lead the UK's specialist lending market.

Our Business Activities

Bradford & Bingley is a UK-based financial services institution, focused on providing specialist mortgages and savings products.

Our residential lending activity focuses on a range of niche areas providing mortgages for individuals who need a more specialist product than those available in the mainstream market. Our three main products are:

• Buy-to-let; providing loans to landlords and property investors
• Self-cert; loans for individuals who have more complex income streams, including the self-employed and those with more than one job
• Lifetime; enabling customers to gradually release the equity they have built up in their main residence

Our specialist mortgage products are sold through brokers and intermediaries under the Mortgage Express brand, and additionally a range of Bradford & Bingley branded products are available through our 200 branches and our telephony and online distribution channels. We do not participate in unsecured consumer lending.

Our branches also offer a competitive range of savings and investment products, together with a wide choice of financial services products from a range of providers, including general insurance, wealth, protection and personal loan products. Our savings products are also available online, by post, telephone and via 140 third-party agents.

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Our Strategy

Bradford & Bingley’s strategy is based on developing sources of sustainable competitive advantage in sectors of the UK mortgage market that offer superior long-term potential for growth and profitability.

We have chosen to compete in markets that have attractive fundamentals. Our current core markets, buy-to-let, self-cert, lifetime and other niche products each offer good risk-adjusted returns. These products are more complex than mainstream mortgages, and the additional expertise required to manufacture and distribute these loans provides the basis for building sustainable competitive advantage.

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