News RSS Feed


The Big Picture

Portman members urged to vote 'no' to merger

3:50pm Tuesday 13th March 2007

comment Comments (16)   Have your say »


A BOURNEMOUTH councillor is appealing to Portman Building Society members to vote no to a planned merger with Nationwide.

Cllr Ron Whittaker, who has a savings account at Portman, appealed to other Portman members not to be "taken in by handouts".

On Saturday the Daily Echo reported how around 250 jobs are set to be lost in Bournemouth if Nationwide's planned takeover of Portman Building Society goes ahead.

Ten Portman and Nationwide branches in Dorset and the New Forest will also close if the merger takes place.

Under the planned merger, qualifying Portman members would receive windfalls of up to £1,000.

The average windfall for these savers is expected to be £445 (minimum £200, maximum £1,000).

Each qualifying mortgage borrower would receive a flat rate windfall of £200.

Cllr Whittaker told the Echo: "Let's not this time be taken in by handouts. Let's vote no and retain what was promised in 1998 by the chief executive at that time of substantial investment into Bournemouth.

"Do they really take us all for fools?

"Like so many savers as myself, it sounds so good that savers and mortgage borrowers will receive a so-called windfall of a few hundred pounds.

"But I really do hope that the majority of Portman customers will vote a clear no in the voting forms to be held in the spring. We are talking of a number of job losses and the possible local economic effect to the town centre."

A spokesman for Portman said members had all been mailed a merger booklet and it was up to them to weigh up the pros and cons of the proposals.

He said: "Portman is a democracy and it is ultimately for the members to decide whether it represents fair value.

"The handouts are about compensating Portman members for the transfer to Nationwide."

Print article » Email to a friend »

Your Say YourBournemouth Echo

P J Hill, Poole says...
5:32pm Tue 13 Mar 07

Are all investors idiots that they have to be dictated to by Councillors. Hopefully, we make up our own minds

Report this post »

james., bournemouth. says...
7:06pm Tue 13 Mar 07

vote yes you will need the money to pay your council tax & car parking fees if you live in bournemouth.

Report this post »

malcolm, bournemouth says...
7:36pm Tue 13 Mar 07

perhaps if the councilor in question worried more about bournemouth than his bank account. bournemouth might be a safer place to live.

Report this post »

private saver, bournemouth says...
7:55pm Tue 13 Mar 07

What about the advantages of a major financial player being in Bournemouth? The Portman was ripe for take over and this merger is the best result for the town and individuals. The alternative would have been total takeover and a total loss to the town. If Councillor Whittaker is against handouts, in the event of the vote supporting merger I am sure he would not sully his hands with an open bribe. Luckily there are many charities who will be grateful to receive it.

Report this post »

Julia, Bournemouth says...
8:17pm Tue 13 Mar 07

Cllr Ron Whittaker, who has a savings account at Portman, appealed to other Portman members not to be "taken in by handouts".

I'm left speechless!

Report this post »

Julia, Bournemouth says...
8:19pm Tue 13 Mar 07

Cllr Ron Whittaker, who has a savings account at Portman, appealed to other Portman members not to be "taken in by handouts".

I'm left speechless!

Report this post »

Jo, Bournemouth says...
11:25pm Wed 14 Mar 07

If £200 minimum is a handout as Cllr Ron Whittaker claims, then he clearly doesn't need the cash! It's not a trifling figure to most of us! Does he really take us for fools or is he just playing a political game based on the high levels of emotion locally?

Report this post »

John, Bournemouth says...
10:56am Thu 15 Mar 07

Comment by 'private saver' is totally incorrect. The Portman is a mutual Bld Society, therefore can't be 'taken over', any changes, as in this merger, need to be voted on by members. It's all very well talking about bribes and making flippant comments about £200 etc, but when job losses affect someone close to home it puts all your petty moans into perpective. Try telling the families and local shop owners that this isn't important!

Report this post »

Ruth, Poole says...
1:02pm Thu 15 Mar 07

Every Portman member must make up their own mind on this vote. Personally, I shall be voting 'NO' for the following reasons :
1.Portman job losses
2.The merger would decrease competition between Mutual Building Societies for customers & I think that after spending my £200 I might discover I'd made a big mistake
3. Nationwide is the company that put all it's customers at risk of identity theft in September 2006 when one of it's laptops was stolen. However, it felt no need to warn it's customers about this until November 2006 after the FSA got involved. The company was subsequently fined almost £1million by the FSA.
4. Nationwide Building Society is one of the financial instituations found to be in breach of the Data Protection Act regarding the disposal of customer information - see http://www.silicon.com/financialservices/0,3800010322,39166338,00.htm

Report this post »

Ruth, Poole says...
9:52pm Thu 15 Mar 07

Having already listed 4 reasons why I shall be voting 'NO' to the merger, I'd like to add a 5th.Voters might like to consider the amount of retention bonuses to be paid to 12 senior Portman executives - see page 24 of the merger document, item 7, second paragraph. And who'll pay for those bonuses? Us, the Portman members - makes my £200 look like chickenfeed.

Report this post »

N. Taylor, Christchurch says...
9:14am Fri 16 Mar 07

If you really want a proper payout of thousands of pounds then vote no to the Nationwise merger and lobby the Portman to sell out to a bank (which can be done on a vote). £200 (£160 after tax) is nothing compaired to what you could get.

Report this post »

Roger Lawrence, Wolverhampton says...
9:43am Fri 16 Mar 07

As Leader of Wolverhampton Council I welcome Cllr Whittaker's comments. Nationwide has just announced that 250 Portman staff at Wolverhampton will be made redundant as a result of this merger. Six months ago Portman were talking to us about expanding and investing here. If this goes ahead don't be surprised if they do to Bournemouth what they're doing to us!

Report this post »

Trevor Hesselwood, Leicester says...
3:24pm Fri 16 Mar 07

I plan to vote NO (though in line for the maximum "bonus")on the grounds that Portman as no3 building society should be seeking to to expand (perhaps more mergers with some of the remaining smaller societies ) to provide choice and competition with Nationwide(no 1)and whoever is number 2.

Report this post »

paul, winton says...
11:05pm Tue 20 Mar 07

Listen to cllr Whittaker..I don't think so! No to taken over by Nationwide, of course, if they can get the Portman for peanuts then how atupid we all are.

Report this post »

Wendy Trimnell, Christchurch says...
10:10pm Thu 29 Mar 07

The only people to benefit to the merger is the directors especially of Nationwide some of them are already on packages of nearly 1 million pounds and as for the cash offer.It's a pitance.Portman gave Stafford memebersa £1500+ it would be better for all members and staff if a bank took the Portman over.

Report this post »

wendy trimnell, christchurch says...
10:13pm Thu 29 Mar 07

Vote NO to merger, NO to Portman board, vote No to bonus and salary increases to Portman directors

Report this post »

Comments are closed on this article.

In this section

Don't miss these links!

Sponsored Links



Martin Lewis

Local Advertisers


Local Information

Enter your postcode, town or place name

House prices »   Schools »   Crime »   Hospitals »