Halifax (1853- )

The rise of industry

The origins of the Halifax date back to the Industrial Revolution, when small market towns across England were transformed into manufacturing centres.  In Halifax the textile industry boomed, with people flocking from the countryside to work in the new mills and factories.  Between 1801 and 1851 the population almost trebled, rising from below 9,000 to over 25,000.

But the town was ill prepared for this influx.  Housing shortages led to severe over-crowding, squalor and disease.  A solution was found by the newly emerging 'building societies'.  Working men would club together to buy land and build themselves houses.  Originally 'terminating' societies, they would disband once the last member had been housed.  Then came the 'permanent' societies, where workers could save their money long-term in a common fund, for a guaranteed rate of interest.  This cash would in turn be loaned on, to build or buy houses.  The society would thus endure for as long as its members wanted.

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Enter the Halifax

In December 1852 a small group of men gathered in the Old Cock Inn, Halifax.  Their mission was to set up an investment and loan society, for the mutual benefit of local working people.  Those with spare cash could invest it; others could then borrow, using the funds to buy or build a house.  Lenders would get interest on their savings, borrowers would pay it.

By Christmas that year the Halifax Permanent Benefit Building Society was formally established.  Rules were drawn up, and a chairman, trustees and directors appointed.  Office space was rented in the Old Market, and an advertisement placed in the Halifax Guardian.

Amongst the founding fathers were John Fisher, a local bank manager; J.D.Taylor, a solicitor’s clerk; and Esau Hanson, a textile manufacturer.  All three played a pivotal role in the Society's early history.  Fisher was elected first President and Taylor named Secretary, serving in that capacity for nearly 50 years.  Then, on 26th May 1853, Hanson became the first person ever granted a mortgage by the Halifax.  He borrowed £121 to buy land on St. John’s Lane, a site which later formed part of the Halifax’s head office on Trinity Road.

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The first fifty years

Business was brisk from the start.  People flocked to the Society’s office each Friday night, keen to join the new venture.  By pledging themselves to its rules and paying regular subscriptions, investors and borrowers alike became members.  Those unable to make regular payments could still save their cash, as depositors rather than members; they would simply lodge ad hoc sums when they could.

Within a year there were 584 members and a further 144 depositors.  More than £9,000 had been lent, with another £2,000 agreed for homes being built.

Branch offices were opened at Sowerby Bridge, Thornton and Queenshead (Queensbury) in that first year.  Others quickly followed, with one as far afield as Huddersfield by 1862.

The head office moved too, first to Waterhouse Street, and then to the corner of Crossley Street.  Such was the Society’s success that it was able to build brand new offices on Princess Street, moving there in 1873.  This was to be home for the next 50 years.

Princess Street - decorated for George V's coronation in 1910

Halifax's first branch at Sowerby Bridge

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The Enoch era

A giant in the history of the Halifax, Enoch Hill took over as Secretary in 1903.  He was both President and Managing Director from 1928-38.  Hill had a profound influence on the development of the Society and oversaw its dramatic expansion.  In 1913 assets reached £3 million and the Halifax became the largest building society in the world.  By 1927 assets had risen to some £27 million.

The 1920s brought a severe housing shortage and a series of government-led national house building schemes.  The role of the Halifax was pivotal, advancing money to developers at very low rates of interest.  In all, the Society financed the building of some 14,000 homes – 60% of all the houses built under these schemes.

Expansion continued apace with a new head office on Commercial Street in 1921 and a London office in 1924.  Scottish offices in Glasgow and Edinburgh were opened four years later.

Hill’s biggest achievement was to oversee the merger of the Halifax Permanent with another local society, the Halifax Equitable, in 1928.  He created a single Society, the Halifax Building Society.  With assets of £47 million this new society was some five times the size of its nearest rival.

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From building society to bank

The advent of computerisation in the 1960s heralded an era of rapid change and innovation.  The business of the Halifax was transformed - accounts were handled electronically and filing systems automated.  A state of the art head office was built at Trinity Road in 1973.  Branches were modernised and revolutionary cash dispensers installed.

In 1986, new legislation allowed building societies to increase their range of financial services. The Halifax steadily diversified into personal banking, stock broking, insurance and estate agency.

The 1990s saw a period of mergers and acquisitions, most notably the 1995 merger with the Leeds Permanent Building Society, and the acquisition of Clerical Medical the following year.
 

Then in February 1997, one of the most significant events in the Halifax's history occurred, when its members voted overwhelmingly in favour of conversion to plc status.  The subsequent flotation on 2nd June was the largest the Stock Market had seen and created some 7.5 million shareholders overnight.

Following the acquisition of Birmingham Midshires in 1999, another major turning point was reached in September 2001 when the Halifax merged with Bank of Scotland.  The new bank, HBOS plc, became the fifth largest financial services company in the UK, and its Retail division continues to be headquartered at Trinity Road in Halifax.

 

 

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Further information

• 'A hundred years of the Halifax: the history of the Halifax Building Society 1853-1953' by Oscar R. Hobson (B. T. Batsford, 1953)
• 'Fifty more years of the Halifax 1953-2003' by Richard Barrow (The Amadeus Press, 2006)
• 'The History of the Halifax Permanent Benefit Building Society, being a jubilee memorial of this society' (Reed & Co., 1903)
• 'Eighty Years of Home Building – The Halifax Plan' (William Clowes & Sons, 1937)
• 'The Story of the Halifax Permanent Benefit Building Society from its establishment to March 1921' (1921)
• 'The Halifax Building Society' by Sue Bamford (Wayland, 1983)
• 'The Strength of Change, Transforming a Business for the 21st Century' by Peter Pugh (Penguin, 1998)

• An extensive archive of material relating to the Halifax is maintained by HBOS Group Archives.
• Records and artefacts relating to the Halifax are also on display in the Museum on the Mound in our corporate headquarters.

To return to Halifax family tree click here.
To return to the Corporate History page click here.

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