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Chief Executive Officer's Review of 2022

Richard Fearon, Chief Executive Officer, Leeds Building Society

Richard Fearon reflects on 2022 and shares his thoughts on the year ahead.

How do you look back on 2022?

2022 was a difficult year for many people, with a cost of living crisis. We were therefore focused on how we could play our part in supporting our members. We’ve been able to deliver excellent results, and our support for the housing market was record-breaking, including strong support for first time buyers. We really pushed forward on our purpose of putting home ownership within reach of more people.

Alongside that we’ve done more than ever to support good causes and communities – including reaching our fundraising total of £500,000 for Dementia UK a year early, and the work we’ve done to support Ukrainian refugees, amongst other things.

I think it’s been a strong year for the Society amid tough times for the economy and credit for that is due to our fantastic colleagues.

We really pushed forward on our purpose of putting home ownership within reach of more people.


In 2022 you spoke in the media about issues affecting our members, such as the housing market. Why is that important to you?

For nearly 150 years, we’ve been here to help our members with home ownership. That’s always been our purpose and there’s an opportunity for us to have a real voice on that because I think home ownership is in crisis at the moment in the UK.

It’s an important issue for many millions of people and we’re matching our words with actions – for example we stopped new lending on second homes and we released seven public policy proposals to address issues in the housing market. Doing the right thing for our members has always been part of who we are. I want us to be at the forefront on issues that are central to us and so many of our members.

What was the biggest challenge for you as CEO in 2022?

The massive uncertainty that we saw in response to the mini budget was very challenging. The market moved every day, rates were changing rapidly and banks and building societies were pulling out of the market all the time.

I was proud that we were able to keep products out there for first time buyers all the way through that disruption. I was very impressed with how our brilliant colleagues stepped forward to support our members throughout what was a difficult time.

Sofia - a Leeds Building Society member who bought her first home with a shared ownership mortgage in 2022

Sofia – a Leeds Building Society member who bought her first home with a shared ownership mortgage in 2022.

How did the Society support members in 2022?

We’re here to support our members and get them onto the property ladder, but it’s important to keep them there too.

We haven’t charged mortgage arrears fees since the start of the pandemic, and we’ve developed more options to support people having difficulties with their mortgage.

Savers had a hard time of it for many years but as interest rates rose last year we provided competitive rates for them, too.

We’ll carry on supporting all our members in what will be another challenging year.

Will the savings market evolve in 2023?

At the back end of 2022, we were able to provide some very competitive fixed rate savings products, and we want to continue to do that in 2023.

We have to balance that with service, because occasionally they’ve been so popular we’ve been swamped with demand.

We had our best ever year for savings in 2022, with growth in savings balances of £2 billion and 85,500 new savers joining us. In 2023, when we’re able to do so, we’ll carry on passing on the benefit of Bank of England rate rises to our members.

How did we show leadership on climate change in 2022?

We already achieved carbon neutral status in 2021 for our operational Scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions, and some Scope 3 emissions. We’ve just agreed a set of challenging targets for reducing our emissions further, including an aim to reach net zero operations by 2030 through a 90% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 emissions.

And we’re doing our bit for members too, by taking more efficient new build properties into account in our lending decisions. That allows us to lend more money to people buying those properties because their future energy bills will be lower. We were the first lender to do that last year and we want to continue to innovate in that space.

I want us to be at the forefront on issues that are central to us and to so many of our members.


How have we made progress on inclusion and diversity within the Society?

It’s really important that the Society reflects the diversity of all the members we serve every day. We made tremendous progress last year in terms of colleagues having open conversations and sharing their experiences, and we were involved in lots of events too. I really enjoyed the Leeds Pride parade we sponsored – it was a fabulous atmosphere as colleagues and families got ready in our new building.

We also held a whole range of different events across the Society, for example for Black History Month. It’s important that people feel comfortable to share their different experiences, and I’m keen that we keep those conversations going.

What was your proudest moment of 2022?

That’s an easy one – the honour of hosting a visit from King Charles III to officially open our head office. It was a fantastic day for everyone at the Society.

It was also a huge privilege for me personally, and lots of colleagues were excited to be part of it. The King spent lots of time with them and we were proud to show him our energy efficient HQ. Time went past in a blur, but it was a wonderful experience and one that I, and lots of other people in the Society, will remember for a long time.

Richard introduces King Charles III to colleagues during the royal visit in November 2022

Richard introduces King Charles III to colleagues during the royal visit in November 2022.

What are you focused on in 2023?

2023 will be uncertain and bring difficult times for the economy and for many people. But we have an incredibly strong and secure business that’s performing extremely well.

It’s really important we use that security to support all our members as they navigate through these difficult times. That’s what we’ll be focused on.

 

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