Principality Celebrates 150 Years at the Heart of Wales
By Effective Communication
Wales’ largest building society, Principality, will celebrate its 150th birthday on March 15 – and is set to mark the occasion with a series of events and charity initiatives throughout the year.
Principality Building Society is an indigenous Welsh business, established in Cardiff’s Church Street in March 1860, when the population of the Welsh capital was just 32,954. Its aim then, as it is now, was to help the people of Wales save money and build their own homes.
In 1870, Principality had its own headquarters, at 8 Royal Arcade, and by its Jubilee year, in 1910, the society was celebrated for its key role in the development of Cardiff, providing vital funding and services to its growing population. After just 50 years of business Principality had been instrumental in providing enough houses, that placed side by side, could form a 50 mile long street stretching the distance from Cardiff to Hereford.
150 years later, and Principality Building Society now boasts 51 branches across Wales, more than 1,000 staff and over 500,000 members. Not only is Principality a major player in the Welsh economy in 2010, it is also the 7th largest building society in the UK.
In that time, Cardiff has also grown to a population of 324,000 and Wales has its own National Assembly Government.
On March 15th, Principality members are invited to join staff in a celebration at the Principality flagship Queen Street branch, where Chief Operating Officer, Graeme Yorston, will cut the cake at 12.30pm.
As part of the 150 year celebrations, each branch across Wales will also host its own individual birthday event.
Details of all the events can be found on the Principality birthday microsite,www.principality.co.uk/150. The interactive bilingual micro-site sets out the Principality story, decade by decade, and also charts the best and the worst of Wales over the years. Visitors to the site will be able to enter birthday competitions and even read Principality memories from staff and members.
Principality will be also be launching a new advertising and marketing campaign: ‘Diolch – Thank you for building our Society on Monday 15th March.
There will be a special charity giveaway for communities across Wales throughout the year, as well as fundraising for the official Principality charity of the year, chosen by members of staff.
Principality Building Society Group Chief Executive, Peter Griffiths, said:
“We are keen to include our members, the people of Wales, in the 150 year celebrations, which is why we plan to say Diolch, thank you, with a significant charity giveaway and by helping out with various community initiatives.
“Since the society’s humble beginnings, trust, fairness and success have been at the heart of our business, and we have no intention of compromising on this heritage. With pride in our past and confidence in our future, we look forward to writing the next chapter of our very special story. Here’s to the next 150 years!”
