125 YEARS OF THE

Market Harborough building society

This year, 1995, the Market Harborough Building Society celebrates 125 years.

The Building Society started from humble beginnings and, over the years, has grown to a local Society with nine branches and five agencies.

The Market Harborough Permanent Benefit Building Society, as it was then known, was formed on the 14 July 1870 by a group of well known local men. These included brothers S Symington, better known for Symington's Soup Factory, and W Symington, the Corset manufacturer who were in Adam & Eve Street, Market Harborough. The object of the Society was to encourage saving and thereby create a means to enable the less well off to buy their own homes.

In 1872, the Office moved to the Sheep Market and, in December of that year, to the New Hall, Sheep Market where the Committee of Management met every fortnight to collect the subscriptions from members. In 1879 the Society moved to premises on St Mary's Road and, in 1910, they transferred to larger offices on the same road.

By 1925, the Society needed to expand once again, and a site was purchased on Northampton Road (now The Harborough Mail Offices). Repeated flooding, however, that sometimes reached the top of the ground floor desks, helped to persuade the Board of Directors to move once again.

In 1961, the Society renovated and moved to Welland House, which has provided the Head Office of the Society for the past 34 years.

It was around this time that the Society was offered the chance to rent an Office in the High Street, Kibworth Beauchamp, together with Barclays Bank and Wartnaby's Solicitors. The branch only opened one afternoon a week, but this proved to be very popular and, on 12 December 1983, the Branch moved to it's present Offices at 17 Station Street. The Office previously formed part of a row of railway cottages and, in later years, a greengrocers. The Office was open from 9.30 - 12.30 daily and also 1.45 - 4.30 on Fridays. It was also open on a Saturday morning. It was staffed by Mary Caldwell and Jane Lawrence, who you can still see there today. It was soon decided that the Branch should open all day on Monday as well, and they are now open from 9.00 - 4.45 Monday to Friday and 9.00 - 12.00 Saturday. Mary and Jane have now also been joined by Monica Smith.

The Kibworth Office offers a complete range of investment services, including personal loans, and travellers cheques.

Roger Harris, the Chief Executive, said that he had seen only some 22 years of the 125 but, when he joined, there were around 300 Building Societies throughout the country and now there are less than 80. It was pleasing to him that the Market Harborough Building Society had remained, not only as a thriving institution, but one which still puts a strong emphasis on personal dealings with it's members.

Here's to the next 125 years.

© Market Harborough Building Society 1995

stephen.poyzer@which.net or jemeny@globalnet.co.uk mailto:jemeny@globalnet.co.uk

 © Kibworth & District Chronicle 1998