Former Skipton chief rejects 'takeover bid' claims

Mr Goodfellow, who ran Skipton for 17 years, said he is advising Flowers on the mutual sector following its purchase of a 50m stake in Kent Reliance building society and there were no plans to take over Skipton.

Describing the report as "a load of rubbish", he said that Flowers had no intention of bidding for Skipton.

"I'm helping them understand the mutual sector," he told the Yorkshire Post. "They wanted someone to explain how it works following their purchase of a stake in Kent Reliance."

He added that Flowers may well look at takeovers in the future, but it very much depends on what the societies say.

Building societies, unlike rival banks which are listed on the stock exchange, report to their members.

Members have to give approval for takeovers, which are usually billed as mergers, reflecting the co-operative nature of the building society sector.

Flowers has taken a keen interest in the building society sector in the past and made a failed attempt to buy Northern Rock at the end of 2007.

The building society sector is ripe for consolidation as there are a large number of smaller players struggling to cope with increasing regulatory costs.

A number of deals have been struck over the past few years, particularly in Yorkshire. Yorkshire Building Society, Britain's second-biggest mutual, completed a merger with troubled Chelsea Building Society in April.

Skipton, the UK's fourth biggest building society, merged with Scarborough last year in a rescue package to safeguard jobs. The Scarborough name has now disappeared from the high street.

Barnsley was also forced to merge with the Yorkshire Building Society last year after it invested 10m in two Icelandic banks.

Yorkshire's other mutuals, Leeds, Beverley and Keighley-based Ecology, have all said they have no plans to merge.

Beverley and Ecology are tiny compared to their rivals

Leeds, Britain's eighth biggest building society, is seen as a society that might offer protection to a weaker lender.

Last week Skipton said group finance director Tom Wood was leaving the society. Skipton said Mr Wood, who joined the mutual in September 2009, was "moving on to develop his career". He is being replaced by group commercial director Richard Twigg.