February 2023 – Following the slow and painful decline of the Manchester BS the go-ahead has been given by the PRA and the FCA for the Newcastle BS to takeover the Manchester without the involvement of the members (that’s the people they still term the “owners”) of either society.
It has been a very drawn-out death for this society and now without providing its members with any explanation the directors are going ahead with a takeover. The Manchester will quietly slip away into oblivion.
Both societies claim a merger would see “savers and borrowers benefit from increased product choice“. As if there was previously some kind of restriction.
Laws and regulations have been rewritten yet again.