Do Britannia Building Society offer competitive products? Britannia Building SocietyBritannia Building Society began life in 1856 as the Leek and Moorland Permanent Benefit Building Society and, after their first year of trading, they had 203 Members with total assets of £3,000. For the next 100 years they grew steadily, attracting considerable numbers of new Members each year and gradually expanding their Midlands-based branch network. Then, in the 1950s, they began to pursue an active merger policy. Between 1953 and 1973, a total of 39 mergers or takeovers took place. As a result, they changed their name several times and by 1974 had become known as the Leek, Westbourne and Eastern Counties Building Society. A further merger in 1975 with the Oldbury Britannia Building Society saw them change their name to Britannia. Since then, they've merged with more building societies, making them one of the largest mutual building societies in the UK. As a result of all this activity, their membership has, not surprisingly, grown dramatically over the years: In 1978, they celebrated another major milestone: their assets totalled £1 billion for the first time - a figure which doubled to £2 billion just five years later. Today, they have assets of £15 billion. Their branch network has grown considerably, too. Starting with just a single outlet in 1856, they now have 190 branches - stretching all the way from Torquay, in Devon, to Aberdeen in North East Scotland. However, their roots remain firmly in the Midlands and they still have their head office in their home town of Leek. | 
