Hey business, be more building society

Many building societies were created in the Victorian era, at a time when social mobility was extremely limited and a significant proportion of the population were locked out from home ownership due to the lack of access to affordable finance.  

In 2025, many people in the UK face similar challenges. Based on recent data, social mobility in the UK remains poor and has largely stagnated or worsened over the last decade. The UK performs poorly on most social mobility metrics compared to the rest of Europe The UK Performs Poorly When it Comes to Social Mobility. Here’s How it Can Improve | Goldman Sachs 

The picture is concerning: 

• The rate of upward income mobility has declined for those born from the mid-1980s onward Traditional social mobility approaches are failing to give enough opportunities to all – Social Mobility Commission 

• Child poverty has risen since 2012 and is now around 30% Social Mobility Commission launches State of the Nation 2024 Report – Social Mobility Commission 

• Things have deteriorated further in recent years, worsened by the pandemic and energy crisis The UK Performs Poorly When it  

• Income inequality in the UK is one of the highest compared to most other developed countries. ( according to the Equality Trust).  Wealth inequality in the UK is even more pronounced than income inequality. In 2020, the richest 10% of households held 43% of all wealth, while the poorest 50% owned just 9%. 

• The the wealth gap in the UK increased by 50% between 2011 and 2019, according to the Fairness Foundation. 

Overall, despite some improvements in educational participation, social mobility outcomes have largely stalled or declined over the past decade, with growing inequality and persistent barriers for those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Young people are particularly affected, finding it increasingly difficult to get onto the housing ladder compared to previous generations, contributing to a concentration of wealth among older age groups. 

In the 1880’s, building societies were set up on two simple principles; to help everyday people to buy their own homes and to help communities those people live in to thrive. 

In the current economic environment, we think by adopting business societies principles, business could have a very significant positive impact on society and their own growth. 

In the recent CUSP Working Paper “Re-imagining a new economy” Ben Kellard comments that the economic model that has dominated for the last fifty years created “an extractive ‘work and spend’ society”, focused profit above all else. Kellard argues this directly undermines social and ecological wellbeing. 

Building societies focus on a different approach to business, one Kellard supports, where they serve communities through positive impact whilst being competitive and commercially drive, rather than just focus on profit.  

At GOOD, we work with building societies to ensure this positive impact is maximised – both in terms of access to finance and enabling communities to thrive. 

For a future where businesses can behave and thrive in a similar way, businesses and brands should follow these three examples from building societies: 

1. Innovate to grow your audience 

Building societies are innovating to enabling and encouraging people who don’t have a regular saving habit to save for a more secure future. They are creating new mortgage offers for people who don’t have a regular pattern of income but have paid a level of rent that exceeds the mortgage repayments they would have to make. 

Many businesses are too focused on the low hanging fruit making themselves vulnerable to change, rather than innovate to diversifying their income from people who are currently excluded from accessing their services and products. 

The innovation building societies are leading in their sector not only encourage more people to save and enables more people to buy a home but also helps build more resilient communities. GOOD’s recent work with West Brom brought this to life creatively through the “Many time renter, first time buyer” campaign. 

 2. Support the community not just the individual 

Building societies exist to serve an audience that is dealing with the challenges of inequality every day. Building societies do not stop at providing a mortgage or savings product to an individual, they support and invest in the communities those individuals live in, from helping to finance social housing to supporting community services and facilities that makes life more fulfilling, more connected and resilient. 

An example is GOOD’s work with Cumberland Building Society to develop Kinder Kitchens, a partnership with local community kitchens, cafes and foodbank across Cumberland, which has had an extraordinary and measurable positive impact on the quality of life across the communities they operate in.  

Too many businesses pay lip service to community engagement and their social and environmental impact work. Businesses need to create long lasting partnerships to create healthier more prosperous communities that will become their source of employees and customers alike. 

 3. Just be decent 

Building societies commit to operate with integrity, treating customers and colleagues fairly, building long term valued and valuable relationships. And their behaviour demonstrates that commitment. 

Many businesses claim to do the same, but far too few actually demonstrate those values, instead extracting as much out their customers as they can to maximise shareholder value to the detriment of society and the environment, and often the individual too. 

Businesses need to take responsibility for their impact on society and the environment, they need to change to reduce that impact, and they need to start adding value beyond profit if they want to have a business based on a thriving society. 

GOOD are currently working with Principality to define where the need is greatest, where the building society has the ‘right’ to become involved and the activity they will commit to in order to have the greatest positive, measurable and sustained impact. 

If you are a business or brand that wants to have a positive impact on social mobility and society, do get in touch with Lucy Martin, GOOD’s Head of New Business and Marketing on lucy.martin@goodagency.co.uk