Skipton to blitz retirement savings market

SKIPTON BUILDING Society is launching a blitz on the retirement savings market to help millions of people cope with the fear of financial planning for old age after regulatory upheaval triggered the exit of multiple high street providers.
David Cutter of Skipton Building SocietyDavid Cutter of Skipton Building Society
David Cutter of Skipton Building Society

The North Yorkshire group said its new service - called For Life Ahead - helps deal with the growing challenge of funding the retirement of an ageing population and harks back to the mutual’s founding principles.

A spokeswoman told The Yorkshire Post: “We were established 161 years ago to meet a social need by helping people to help themselves. At that time, that need was to build housing for people who previously were unable.

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“Now it is reinvigorating that social purpose by meeting a very modern social problem head on and that is helping people to navigate their way through the complex area of retirement and have the kind of future they want.”

She said Skipton has emerged successfully from the financial crisis of 2007-08 and launches the new service in an attempt to stay relevant in today’s world.

Many of the lender’s larger rivals are investing heavily on mobile banking transactional services.

The society researched the views of 2,600 members and non-members and found an overwhelming need to help people prepare for retirement.

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People wanted a trusted advisor who could provide a human touch rather than deal with a computer; they valued the mutual ethos and wanted a way to protect existing income, said Skipton.

The group added that ordinary people are finding it harder to access financial advice with many providers limiting their services to wealthier clients.

David Cutter, chief executive, said: “They are very concerned about how they are going to cope financially with retirement.”

He added that pensions are complex, even to those who are used to financial services products, and daunting to most people.

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Mr Cutter said people need advice to deal with the subject of planning for old age.

“You have got the uncertainty - you don’t know how long you are going to live, you don’t know what your health is going to be like and you don’t know how you investments are going to perform,” he added.

The investment advice market has seen significant upheaval in recent months.

The Government’s retail distribution review of 2013 introduced tougher rules, including a ban on sales commissions. This led to major banks pulling out of the market.

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The Chancellor introduced further changes to long-term savings in this year’s Budget when he announced plans to scrap the need to buy an annuity on retirement.

Coupled with the decline of the final salary pension scheme and longer life expectancy, Skipton believes the high street retirement savings market has huge potential.

The group’s subsidiary Skipton Financial Services already has a financial planning manager in every branch. The society has nearly 100 branches, each of which will have a “retirement champion” to help customers take part in a free review to assess their ambitions for retirement against their income.

Skipton said its subsidiary offers 3,000 products from 70 different providers.

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The group’s website will host an online retirement calculator to challenge people to think about how much they have set aside.

The spokeswoman said many people have “a head in the sand” approach to saving towards old age. She added: “We are trying to challenge them to face it head on. We can help them plot a path through it.”

Skipton has invested £1m in its call centre in preparation for the launch. It has also invested in refurbishing branches with more customer-friendly layouts.

The member-owned group is advertising the new service on 1,000 billboards this week.

Housing market cools, says BSA chairman

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HOUSE price inflation has moderated in recent weeks, according to the chairman of the Building Societies Association.

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post, David Cutter said the housing market is harder to read following the introduction of the mortgage market review in April.

Lenders have to check more carefully whether home-buyers could still afford loans if interest rates rise under the new rules.

Figures out yesterday show lenders approved the fewest mortgages in almost a year last month, but overall lending grew solidly.

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“It was undoubtedly a very strong start to the year,” said Mr Cutter, who is also chief executive of Skipton Building Society, which owns the Connells national estate agency chain.

“Without doubt a housing bubble has built up in London, but you sense in recent weeks that things are moderating.

“The market is still holding up. The strength of the market has rippled out from London and the South East over the last six months but not to anything like the same extent for Yorkshire and the North East.

“The fundamental issue still remains there are not enough houses being built to meet demand.”

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