Darlington Building Society

With no outside shareholders to account to, Darlington Building Society nonetheless makes itself accountable to its employees and the communities in which they live. All dividends are used to benefit members of the mutual organisation, named after the Co Durham town in which it was founded in 1856.

The society is committed to working for the benefit of its people and region. It supports employment at its nine branches across the Northeast, including the Tees Valley, North Yorkshire and Co Durham. It also runs Darlingtonline, its online banking service.

A Darlington pledge is to annually share 5% of net profits after tax and it offers various career prospects, too – the latter being a key objective in the development of its people. This year to date the society has recruited 31 new starters, launched its first apprenticeship scheme for 16-24 year olds – which attracted eight of the new joiners – and offered internal promotions and secondments to 18 existing employees.

Further work was on offer when the society refurbished all its branches. In 2020 it also funded holiday enrichment clubs and homework clubs for schoolchildren and supported a local charity that works to distribute food and other basic shopping staples that would have otherwise gone to waste.

CEO Andrew Craddock has been the steady hand guiding the society throughout the pandemic. From the beginning he made himself visible to all colleagues to provide them with reassurance and confidence that their wellbeing and safety were his top priority