This years venue at the Saffron Walden Council Offices let us down a bit, the acoustics were poor so a bit of a learning on production for the future! I reiterate my comment on the night that I’d love to meet face to face those who struggled to hear on the night or any other member.

Attendance was in line with previous years, it was great to see some familiar faces & amongst the new attendees were a few younger members who were encouraged to be there by our guest speaker but also wanted to see Building Society openness in operation.

I think it’s fair to say we’ll never stop trying to increase attendance but a wet night in Saffron Walden is always a challenge - it’ll be interesting to try some online ideas such as live streaming so would be interested in members views on this?

The mood was positive the first question from Brian really was an encouragement to continue on our path of traditional approach with a focus on security.

There was a comment from Tony on a slight enhancement to the Annual Report and then he expressed anger at having to pay another £0.6m to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. My response agreed that Building Societies suffered a disproportionate amount of FSCS funding from the failed banks but the value of guaranteeing savers deposits was significant and we’ve just to get on with running our business as best we can.

Away from the main Q & A I got a few comments which noted how much savers were being squeezed and were having to look beyond deposit rates for instance to the stock market to get an extra return.

Whilst there were no questions on the night about Executive pay I took a call separately which questioned why I and my team were paid what we were. I noted that it was important to have the requisite team capable of keeping deposits safe & develop better products & services. Certainly salaries are a fraction of banks, any bonuses are relatively small & deferred 3 years & pay is benchmarked regularly. Having said that I recognise I earn a very good salary and am lucky to work in a customer owned business I think is fantastic.

I was really pleased with Jack Peasgood’s presentation on learnings for business from performance in sport. Jack is ex Saffron Walden County High pupil, an elite GB triathlete & is currently studying at Birmingham University. Saffron sponsored Jack a couple of years ago and we’ve got to know each other well. His dedication to his sport came through and the audience really engaged with him. It’s important to me that we learn from younger people and help them achieve their goals especially as its a real challenge at the moment.

The AGM drew a line under a strong 2011 performance.

We’ve agreed to take on a 3^rd apprentice to work from our Frinton Branch. I thought this showed the value of apprenticeships and asked Sara, our General Manager Human Resources to reflect on how we’ve come to view apprentices as an important part of the Saffron team. This is what she said.

‘When we first talked about taking on a young apprentice I will admit to some scepticism. I thought we’d be investing time and energy in training someone and would not see any great benefit. How wrong can you be! Our first apprentice, Jamie, arrived at our Stratford Branch at the beginning of 2009 and immediately formed a great rapport with staff and members. As we were on new territory our Training Manager spent time alongside the Branch Manager delivering the training and induction programme that would get him off to a flying start. Jamie was an excellent ambassador for the Apprenticeship training programme and won an external award for Best Apprentice Role Model in October 2009.

Needless to say we offered Jamie a permanent role and he has gone from strength to strength and after a spell at Brentwood Branch he is now back at Stratford in a supervisory role.

In September 2011 we brought in another young apprentice Bobbie, this time to our Brentwood Branch.  She has also proved to be a great find and we have just made her position permanent. We now plan to offer the same opportunity at our Frinton Branch.

The success we have had can be attributed to selecting the right individuals with a strong desire to learn and also Saffron working well with the external training providers who support the achievement of their qualifications. Also essential is putting the time into on the job training, off site development activity and encouraging coaching and mentoring by role models around them.

It is great to feel that we are helping these young people on the path to a rewarding career.

I have just discovered that Debbie, our Branch Manager at Frinton, also started her career as an apprentice!’

So if you’re an employer wondering whether to look to apprenticeships I think this shows how well the scheme can work! For that first step look to http://www.apprenticeships.org.uk/

Thanks for reading

Jon

So where are we a month on?

The first was a CEO forum on mutual relevance and future direction. When I became CEO I looked to organise this session by inviting all new CEOs taking over mutuals in 2011, of which there were 10 including Yorkshire and the Co-Op. Whilst the final number attending was only 4; Mansfield, Leeds, Nottingham and Saffron the debate was strong. There was a clear view that;

• mutuals must not be left like the village shop or post office; a good thing that no one used,
• issues on the high street generally were a problem but a commitment to branches remained reflecting the importance of a physical access to our members,
• the ‘mutual premium’ was represented in many different ways but that it’s communication was sometimes poor and it was only real if applied through leadership and embedded in action.

The overarching theme around the table was detailed long term  thinking was going on as well as focussing on today. But only by being truly customer obsessed rather than paying lip service could mutuality be the effective difference and advantage it should be.

Also this week I was invited to participate in an East Anglian business leaders evening facilitated by Barclays. Represented in a room at Trinity College, Cambridge were businesses involved in; retail, manufacturing, legal, property and engineering. The general mood was realistic but optimistic. It was felt that

• we had a further year of depressed conditions to contend with,
• some M&A was happening driven by stronger players and funded through own cash rather than rely on bank financing,
• retail was proving the hardest market whereas the US and Asia continued to drive the exporters forward,
• A shortage of manufacturing resource was hurting in skilled business,
• Pervading was a likely increase in employment within these businesses in 2012/13
• Barclays were concerned about the splitting of investment banking plus increased capital requirements which it felt would not loosen credit availability in the short term.

From both meeting realistic optimism felt like the mood but then I’m always glass half full in outlook.

Thanks for reading

Jon

It just emphasised that the best way is always to have a passion for what you do and do what you have a passion for.

Obviously this applies at home, certainly fits for me at work but also how I spend my spare time battling the sports in triathlon.

Apologies for making this blog closer to home but thanks for reading

Jon

So what are the current headlines?

• Is the UK AAA credit rating, which determines how much the government have to pay to borrow money, under threat?
• The Bank of England increased its quantitative easing by £50bn to £325bn, but is that enough?
• Also is the Eurozone running out of patience with Athens and is Germany contracting!
• What will be the effect of the US showing tentative shoots of recovery?

The announcement of a negative outlook for the UK Government by Moody’s has had no impact on markets & UK yields are still being driven more by growth uncertainties. UK Gilts are likely to remain a safe haven while the Eurozone is unable to resolve its problems & with growth prospects for the UK continuing to be marked lower, it would be wise not to bet on interest rates rising in the near future.

Inflation is moving lower & will be one of the reasons why the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee judged it safe to increase QE by a further £50bn in February. It is finely balanced now whether any further increase is on the cards and we may expect a pause. Unemployment rose again but the increase was less than many expected however with a potential for Greek default back in focus & German contraction in Q4 11, the MPC is likely to retain the possibility of further stimulus if global events impact further on the domestic economy.

Eurozone leaders, especially in Berlin, will be concerned that releasing the next tranche of the Greek bailout may not be fully effective & it appears clear that the whispers are once again being heard in the corridors of Brussels & Strasbourg about the potential for a future Euro which does not contain Greece. The politicians in Athens, while voting bravely for further austerity measures, may find it hard to push much more through in the wake of civil unrest. Overall however, some solace can be taken from the lack of market reaction to ratings actions against France & Austria.

Across the pond there are tentative signs of a growing recovery in the US & President Obama will be hoping that any plausible & passable tax cuts will further support confidence in the US.

The Japanese economy is also producing stronger results & this may just be the spark that global markets need to start to find a modest but sustainable growth path. To quote the MPC ‘there are still considerable headwinds to a UK recovery’ but with some signs that manufacturing & exporting are starting to improve, any sign of an improved tone to world economies is likely to return some confidence with UK business. This will be the key as, with falling real incomes & less job security, there is little likelihood of domestic demand driving UK plc at the moment. Expect UK consumer confidence to remain low for some time to come & rates to stay at 0.50% for the foreseeable future.

So with an eye on interest rates the markets see no bank base rate changes in 2012 & 2013 and it will need a growing international recovery which takes hold on UK soil to see a shift in this sentiment.

However none of this is a prediction and I did predict that Italy would beat England in the six nations recently! Let’s see how things shape up before next months snapshot.

Of course financial services is a hot bed of such real life stories, unfortunately many of these do not make good reading especially in the media;

• Inappropriate investment advice to elderly customers such as telling individuals not expected to live beyond the next World Cup to invest in 5 year investment bonds. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/dec/05/hsbc-fined-selling-bonds-to-elderly

• Payment of billions of pounds in compensation by banks in connection with payment protection insurance ‘PPI’. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13330858 ; Banking industry gives up on PPI mis-selling battle

Of course I’m very aware that all firms advising on financial products face a challenge in making sure products are understood by those buying them and are of value in their personal situation.

However,  I’m also lucky enough to hear more positive real life stories in connection with how Saffron staff support our members.

• The way Karen, in our insurance brokers, sourced affordable, bespoke travel insurance for a customer who having reached 70 years old found himself suddenly excluded from insurance or charged an exorbitant amount.
• How our mortgage underwriter Tom was able to understand how a borrower planned to finish off and finance the self build of their existing property. This enabled them to finish the work and stay in their new home rather than sell it incomplete.
• Even the way one of our branch managers identified as unusual the way an elderly customer she knew was withdrawing money and on following it up identified she was a victim of fraud.  The police and trading standards later advised that this customer had been the victim of rogue builders who had conned her out of £22,000 and the actions of the branch manager and her staff, prevented her paying a further £7,000 to these people.

I think these real life stories are the best way of showing our personal approach is on the right track, it’s why I’m asking in Saffron’s latest ten minutes newsletter for more of those stories to be shared.

But I think that if you are close to people, take a personal interest and keep what you do as simple as you can we’d all hear more of the positives stories.

Jon

I thought it worth summarising my thoughts;

Whilst a 600 page document will take some digestion I do think headline grabbing criticism is wide of the mark. The FSA has listened to feedback from lenders such as Saffron, the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Building Societies Association. This means the proposals are much more measured and reflect a substantive approach to avoid lax lending and promote sensible consumer protection. The affordability of mortgages under a range of interest rate scenarios and having a plausible repayment approach are basic tenants I would have thought any reasonable person would support.

A risk based assessment of particular lending markets such as self employed borrowers and bridging has been performed without disproportionate steps to close these markets.

The need for a close working relationship between lenders and intermediaries is sensible which should promote good intermediaries not threaten them and the use of transitional arrangements for some borrowers is very helpful.

In summary the principles are consistent with how Saffron approaches its mortgage borrowers; there will be considerable digestion and extension to policies but not a radical overhaul for Saffron.

Its also important for me that we are able to look into 2012 and be able to support real people with their mortgage needs through specialist and individual assessment, be competitive and innovate. These proposals are supportive of these objectives.

By the way my quote from the above on BBC Radio Essex was; “I think this represents a balanced position at first look. Clearly some borrowers that would have got mortgages before the credit crunch would have found themselves without those offers under today’s proposals. But I don’t necessarily see that as being a particularly bad thing in the current climate.”

Jon

I just wanted to recount a conversation I had with a friend of mine who also works in financial services.

He discovered that someone had used his name and date of birth to attempt to open a Littlewoods store card with the address of a house with a similar name just down the road. Fortunately the verification process rejected it.

In a panic he requested an up to date Equifax credit search be run by his firm hoping that it wasn’t too late. His credit file remained impeccable however there appeared to be big drop in his credit score. He thought it would be easy to report what had happened and find out more information from the credit bureaus, how wrong he was!

Consistently across all 3 credit companies, Experian, Equifax and Call Credit there was no easy way of contacting them in this time of distress when a potential fraud had been attempted against him. All of them required payment for credit reports, further payments for credit score and non offered some-one to talk to! All required the setting up of monthly subscription services with no easy way of subsequently cancelling.

Each had their own individual characteristics;

• Call Credit, your payment allowed a single view of the report before it disappeared forever.
• Experian, which was the most detailed and user friendly, made you set up at a monthly ongoing cost after a free trial.
• Equifax, was the worst seeing as he needed to talk to some-one there about the scoring. Their offshore call centre was set up to push people online without the knowledge of understanding what a credit score was.

In addition it was easy for him to report the problem to his bank, who very kindly sold him a monthly insurance contract.

Finally, through a business Equifax contact, he got his concerns allayed but it shouldn’t need to be a case of ‘who you know’

In summary, the message in this tale is if you think you’re taking care in protecting your identity then its worth taking even more care as sorting out an ID theft issue takes many hours and those that should be on your side do tend to view it as a sales opportunity. Its also disappointing that personal contact in times like this is so hard for an organisation to realise is critical.

One final recommendation though; CIFAS which is the UK’s Fraud Prevention Service offers a service which flags that extra validation is required when someone is trying to set up a credit agreement. This is £12 a year and seems reasonable for some added assurance.

I hope this helps you in a small way get yourself protected a little better or at least be prepared for the way some firms might handle you in a difficult time.

Jon

]]> http://www.saffronbs.co.uk/blog/2011/11/identity-theft-why-prevention-is-better-than-cure/feed/ http://www.saffronbs.co.uk/blog/2011/11/local-leadership/ http://www.saffronbs.co.uk/blog/2011/11/local-leadership/#comments Tue, 08 Nov 2011 17:50:41 +0000 jon.hall http://www.saffronbs.co.uk/blog/?p=352 I’ve been really keen to stress the importance of leadership when meeting all the Saffron managers this week.

By ‘leadership’ I’m referring primarily to;

1. following instincts to ensure members best interest are served;
2. getting the right things done rather than just getting things done and
3. describing the ‘tomorrow’ we are all working towards to their team rather than always focussing on today.

However it was clear from my discussions with the Branch and Contact Centre managers that these characteristics already described them.

If you’re a member using a branch or have rung our Contact Centre recently I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.

My job is to motivate but this week that motivation has been a 2 way street!

Jon