Britannia merger to go ahead

MEMBERS of Britannia Building Society have given the green light to the proposed merger with Co-operative Financial Services (CFS).

The historic deal is the first time a building society has joined forces with a co-operative and it paves the way for an institution with £70 billion of assets, nine million customers, more than 12,000 employees and 300-plus branches.

Britannia members had been voting whether to accept the proposals by post and online for a month.

By today's annual general meeting, 450,000 members had voted, with 88 per cent of saving members and 86 per cent of borrowing members giving the go-ahead to the merger.