NATIONWIDE BUILDING Society, the UK’s largest mutual, plans to open a high-street branch in Dublin city centre but it has no intention of expanding beyond four to five Irish retail outlets over the next two years.
Carl Gandy, managing director of the building society’s Irish operations, said Nationwide planned to grow its business in Ireland in “a gradual and managed approach rather than opening 30 branches”.
He said the building society was not currently considering taking advantage of any future consolidation in the banking industry following the National Asset Management Agency (Nama) by taking over an existing retail bank network.
A larger Irish retail presence would not be necessary, said Mr Gandy, given that the society was still only offering savings products in Ireland.
“Over the next two years you would be talking about a handful of branches but not all necessarily in Dublin – we have been looking at Cork, but that is further down the tracks,” said Mr Gandy.
He said that the amount of savings attracted by the society’s Irish unit since it opened at Spencer Dock in Dublin had been “in line with or slightly above expectations”.
He was surprised with the number of customers visiting the building society’s offices, he said, and this prompted the society to consider opening a retail outlet in the St Stephen’s Green area.
“Making ourselves more accessible to the local market and the family savers is part of our strategy,” said Mr Gandy.
He said the building society currently planned to open a retail branch in an area with a high level of footfall during office hours that would allow Nationwide to make use of the site as “a shop front” to attract more Irish savers.
He said Nationwide was more interested in specific locations rather than in branches owned by existing financial institutions.
Nationwide Building Society has been offering demand, six-month and nine-month savings products to Irish customers over the past six months.
Mr Gandy declined to say how much the building society had taken in on deposits in Ireland, citing commercial sensitivity. He said it planned to launch a one-year savings product next month.
