Excellence in Business Awards 2010: Pride and prudence pay off for mutual's top man

Ian Ward postponed his retirement from the top job at Leeds Building Society and it is for that, for increasing the size of the mutual fourfold and for his calm stewardship through some very tough times that he takes the Yorkshire Post Excellence in Business Individual Award for Excellence. Video coverage and podcast

Mr Ward will step down at the end of the year and will remain a director during the first quarter of 2011. He will be replaced by David Pickersgill, currently finance director and deputy chief executive. He leaves behind a 135-year-old building society which has become a watchword for prudence and which is determined to stay independent.

This region is the home of the mutual and Mr Ward said the Leeds and many other societies here were part of an historic tradition.

"Yorkshire and Skipton building societies provide thousands of jobs in Yorkshire and they, like us, are very proud of their building society status. Compare our strong organisations with those former societies in this region, many famous names, which converted to banks and either failed completely or lost their independence. We shall not be following that route."

Today, the Leeds is Britain's fifth-largest building society and has nearly 690,000 members.

When, in August, Mr Ward presented his final set of first-half results, they showed a rise in pre-tax profits to 18m, compared with 16.3m the previous year. New lending came to 400m and the society grew its savings balances by 254m to a record level of 7bn. Such a strong performance, despite record low interest rates, is why Mr Pickersgill, a chartered accountant, described himself as "extremely proud" to have worked with Mr Ward, learnt from him and to have been appointed his successor.

Mr Ward's tenure has included facing a series of blows to the UK mutual sector from the financial crisis. Building societies were forced to stump up huge sums so the Financial Services Compensation Scheme could pay for the bail-out of Bradford & Bingley while industry leaders have complained strongly that state support for Northern Rock distorted the retail funding market, meaning it could take a bigger share of UK retail deposits, which building societies rely on for most of their funding. Interest rates have sunk to record lows, and stayed there, hitting margins.

There have been many triumphs for Mr Ward, however. As well as presiding over a period of huge growth, he has taken the Leeds overseas, as it became the first UK mutual to enter the euro savings market in Spain and Gibraltar. More importantly, he has grown reserves heavily while staying well in the black.

Mr Ward has also kept the business lean, doing so well before austerity became fashionable.

He said: "When I was first appointed, there was some surprise that I was not from God's own county. However, the board and staff quickly learnt that I have one well-known Yorkshire trait, of being very careful with my money. I even heard mutterings of 'tighter than any Yorkshireman', a compliment indeed! This also translates into our business – Leeds has the best cost ratios of any building society that is why we are so successful."