Cumberland marks 175 years serving savers and borrowers
The Cumberland Building Society is about to celebrate its 175th anniversary.
Formed in Carlisle on April 16, 1850, as the Cumberland Co-operative Land and Benefit Building Society, it is one of the oldest building societies still in existence.
The Cumberland has grown and prospered over the years and is now Cumbria’s largest financial institution with assets of £3.2billion, 680 staff and 32 branches across Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and south west Scotland.
Jackie Arnold, chair of The Cumberland’s board, said: “This is a proud moment for the Society and all our Cumberland colleagues.
“The changes we have seen over the years and the challenges we’ve faced would have astonished our founders.
“The secret of our success, and longevity, is that we’ve never lost sight of our founding principles. We were set up to look after the interests of our members, the savers and borrowers, and that’s what we’ve always done.”
Building societies began with a simple, but powerful idea: helping people help each other,
Groups of neighbours pooled their money to build homes, one by one, for each member.
It was a movement built on trust, community, and shared goals—creating a fairer way for ordinary people to save, borrow, and own a piece of the future.
One of the early aims was to encourage working people to divert some of their money into house purchases.
The Cumberland’s initial prospectus talks about instilling a savings habit, saying: “Some might think they could ill spare 6d (sixpence or 2.5p) a week but let them rest assured that, once they begin the contribution, they would find a way of carrying it on.”
It also promises: “The Society will be open to all persons resident within the district of Cumberland and its members will not be restricted to age, sex or [political] party”. This was a radical sentiment for its time but is very much in tune with the modern Cumberland’s commitment to diversity and inclusion.
The Society shortened its name to the Cumberland Building Society in 1954. The second half of the 20th century saw it embrace new technology such as ATMs and bank cards, then telephone and online banking.
Unusually for a building society, the Cumberland offers personal and business current accounts, and lends to businesses in the hospitality sector, alongside regular mortgages and savings accounts.
The Society’s first branch opened in Preston in 1973. This was quickly followed by others as the Cumberland established a presence across Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and Southwest Scotland.
The turn of another century saw further rapid advances in technology such as the adoption of apps for mobile banking. In 2014 The Cumberland was the first UK building society to offer a mobile payments service.
Jackie added: “I’m humbled to think back to our beginnings in 1850 and all the work that generations before us have done to create a strong and vibrant organisation that does such good for the community.
“We always strive to do the right thing and that’s encapsulated in our purpose to create a banking experience that is kinder to people, planet and community.”
“I’m full of gratitude and want to thank everyone who has had a role to play in creating such an organisation with such a strong heritage in this part of the world.”
You can find out more about The Cumberland's 175 Anniversary Celebrations here.