Where it all started - our history
Born and bred in Yorkshire.
See how we've grown from a single room in Huddersfield into one of the largest building societies in the UK.
Our history
1864
Huddersfield Equitable Permanent Benefit Building Society is established by three gentlemen who meet each morning from 5am to 8am in a single room in Huddersfield. Early directors of the Society include a dentist, a shoemaker and a plumber.
At the end of the first year there were six borrowers and assets of £4,044 13s 5d.
1866
1871
1885
Bradford Self Help Permanent Building Society is established in St. George's Hall Coffee Tavern.
At the end of the first year there were 43 members and assets of £185,000.
1885-89
During its first four years of business the Bradford Permanent opens for just an hour and a half, once a week.
1893
By this date, the Society's office was fitted with the electric light.
1915
The first lady employees join the Society.
1923
The number of staff employed by the West Yorkshire Building Society has doubled to four.
1930
The modernised offices of the Bradford Permanent open at Queen Anne Chambers - complete with rubber covered floors and ultraviolet ray glass.
1975
The Huddersfield and Bradford Building Societies merge in the largest marriage of two societies to date.
1982
The Huddersfield & Bradford and West Yorkshire Building Societies merge - the Yorkshire Building Society is born!
1992
Yorkshire Building Society merges with the Haywards Heath Building Society.
1998
The Yorkshire Building Society Charitable Foundation established as an independent registered charity.
2001
Yorkshire Building Society is the third largest mutual in Britain with assets of over £11 billion.
2003
Yorkshire Building Society launched its intermediary-only lending subsidiary Accord Mortgages.
2008
Assets now in excess of £23 billion with 2 million members.
The Yorkshire merges with Barnsley Building Society (with 60,000 members and assets £368m) on 31 December.
2010
The Yorkshire merges with Chelsea Building Society on 1 April 2010. Our combined assets are now of over £30bn, 2.8m members and a network of 178 branches.
2011
The Yorkshire acquires Egg mortgage and savings book, and the Egg brand, on 31 October 2011.
The Yorkshire merges with the Norwich & Peterborough Building Society on 1 November 2011.
2012
At the end of the year, our assets had grown to approximately £33 billion with 3.5m members.
2014
Happy 150th Birthday YBS!
2014
My Voice, our member online research community went live - giving members the opportunity to feedback on a variety of topics that really matter.
2015
Colleagues and Marie Curie nurses brewed up a new Guinness World Records title in aid of Marie Curie, when a total of 667 Society colleagues took part in the largest cream tea party in multiple venues.
2016
Money Minds, our financial education programme for 5-19 year olds was launched. Delivered by colleagues, its designed to promote learning and discussion with young people.
2016
2017
2017
2018
2020
2024