Progressive Building Society & City of Derry Building Society to merge

The Boards of Progressive Building Society (Progressive) and the City of Derry Building Society (City of Derry) have agreed in principle that the two societies should merge. Subject to approval by the members of the City of Derry and confirmation by the Prudential Regulation Authority, the merger is expected to be effective from 1 July 2014.The Board of the City of Derry recognises that to uphold the high standard of service currently offered to members over the longer term requires continued levels of investment in back office systems and product range, as well as training and development for staff to help them keep delivering the service expected.

The necessary resources for this investment can only readily come from the economies of scale, organisational depth and financial strength associated with size. This proposed merger will enable the members of the City of Derry to join a strong, thriving regional building society, with similar objectives and values.

Although some details are still to be finalised, the key points are: The enlarged society will retain the name Progressive Building Society and will remain an independent, Northern Ireland, mutual organisation, owned by its members. Following the merger, members of City of Derry will have access to the full range of products and services offered by Progressive and will be able to use the full branch and agency network of the Progressive with offices throughout Northern Ireland. No bonuses will be payable to members of either society arising from the merger. There will be no compulsory redundancies as a direct result of the merger. A branch office will be retained in Londonderry for at least three years and a decision will be made on the preferred location in due course.

Commenting on the proposed merger, Darina Armstrong, Chief Executive of Progressive Building Society, said "We are looking forward to finalising the terms of the merger and to welcoming the members of City of Derry Building Society as members of the enlarged society in due course. The members of both societies will benefit from the financial strength of the combined society and the Progressive will continue to operate as it always has - a traditional building society, offering good value savings and mortgage products and excellent customer service for the benefit of our members."

David Black, Chairman of City of Derry said, “We have selected Progressive as our partner as it is the optimum choice. Progressive is the UK’s 10th largest Society and has the financial strength associated with a large mutual building society to provide assurance to our members. The merger will ensure that members of City of Derry are able to continue to benefit from membership of a Northern Ireland basedmutual building society as well as being able to access a broad range of mortgage and savings products. The Directors of City of Derry Building Society strongly encourage the Society's members to vote in favour of the merger."

Notes:1 Progressive Building Society was established in 1914 and is currently the 10th largest society in the UK, with assets in excess of £1.6bn and around 100,000 members. It has 12 branches and a network of over 40 agencies throughout Northern Ireland.

2 City of Derry Building Society, which was established in 1876, has its head office and sole branch office in Londonderry. At the end of 2012 City of Derry had assets of £42.6 million and has around 2,500 members.

3 The merger process is subject to the provisions of the Building Societies Act 1986. City of Derry members are expected to receive full details of the merger proposal during March 2014 and will be asked to approve the merger at the Annual General Meeting to be held in April 2014. Progressive Building Society has applied to the Prudential Regulation Authority for permission to proceed with the merger on the basis of a Board resolution.

For further information, please contact:Progressive Building SocietyDarina Armstrong, Chief Executive Telephone: 028 9024 4926Email: Darina@theprogressive.comOrCity of Derry Building SocietyColin Jeffrey, Chief Executive Officer Telephone: 028 7137 0037Email: caj@cityofderrybs.co.uk