Kent Reliance

Kent Reliance
Traded as LSE: OSB
Industry Banking and Financial Services
Founded 1986[1]
Headquarters

Chatham, Kent,

United Kingdom
Key people
 Mike Fairey (Chairman)
Andy Golding (CEO)
Parent Kent Reliance Provident Society (59.9% share)
Website www.kentreliance.co.uk

Kent Reliance, formerly known as Kent Reliance Building Society and also known as KRBS, is a banking services provider based in Kent, England. Until 31 January 2011 KRBS stood for Kent Reliance Building Society, which was created in 1986 and incorporated Chatham Reliance (established 1898), Dover District (established 1861), Herne Bay (established 1888) and Kent and Canterbury (established 1847). On 1 February 2011, Kent Reliance Building Society transferred its business to a new bank, OneSavings Bank plc (which trades as Kent Reliance).

KRBS was the fastest growing building society in the UK between 2003 and 2008 and was a member of the Building Societies Association. The dramatic growth of KRBS was driven in part by the establishment in 2002 of a wholly owned subsidiary, Jersey Home Loans Limited, to buy the Jersey mortgage business of Standard Chartered Grindlays Bank Ltd.[2] By September 2008, this subsidiary had mortgages on its books of over £700 million,[3] achieved by competing on both price and service in a market dominated by the major high street banks. KRBS also operates a lending business in Guernsey and the Channel Islands operations in aggregate constitute 43% of the Group's mortgage assets.

KRBS was also notable as the only member of the UK building society sector to have offshored administrative work to India, via its wholly owned subsidiaries, Easiprocess and EasiOption. The KRBS Group employed significantly more staff in India than it did in the UK,[4] as a result KRBS had the lowest costs (as a percentage of assets) of any UK building society.

Transfer to OneSavings

OneSavings Bank plc is a British banking company that has been formed by Kent Reliance Building Society and JC Flowers. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index.

In July 2010 JC Flowers announced its intention to purchase a stake of Kent Reliance,[5][6] forming OneSavings Plc. The transfer of the business of the society to OneSavings was approved by a majority of members in November 2010. Kent Reliance Building Society converted into a provident society, Kent Reliance Provident Society, which owns a 59.9% stake in OneSavings Bank, with JC Flowers owning the remaining 40.1%. The transfer became effective on 1 February 2011 and OneSavings plc was renamed OneSavings Bank plc.

OneSavings Bank plc, also known as OSB, began trading as a bank on 1 February 2011. OSB is a specialist lending and retail savings group authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority, part of the Bank of England, and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority. OSB operates through specialist brokers and independent financial advisors in sub-sectors of the lending market. These sub-sectors include Residential Mortgages (comprising first charge, second charge and shared ownership), Buy to let/SME and Personal Loans. The bank is predominantly funded by retail savings originated through the Kent Reliance franchise.

Sponsorship

Kent Reliance has a well-established Community Services programme of donations, fundraising and staff volunteering. Specifically the Community Services programme includes being a major sponsor of Demelza Hospice Care for Children, donating to local Kent-based charitable causes through our Kent Reliance Community Fund, sponsorship of Kent FA’s 20 County Cup competitions and development centre, supporting and championing the Kent Excellence in Business Awards (KEiBA) and the Kent Reliance ‘Kent Heroes’ campaign undertaken with a local media partner. Kent Reliance also fundraises for Great Ormond Street Hospital and also donate to global crises via Y Care International

KRBS sponsored south London football club Charlton Athletic F.C. under a three-year sponsorship deal from 2009/10-2011/12. It previously sponsored its more local team Gillingham F.C. for the 2007/08-2009/10 seasons, but this sponsorship ended at the same time that Gillingham were relegated from League One to League Two. The team shirts bear KRBS's website address, krbs.com.

References

  1. ↑ "KRBS History". Retrieved 12 March 2011.
  2. ↑ "Kent Reliance agrees Jersey mortgage book sale". investmentinternational.com. Retrieved 2008-11-07. In a deal worth an estimated £50 million, Kent Reliance Building Society and Standard Chartered Grindlays announced that they had completed the sale of the Standard Chartered Grindlays Jersey mortgage book to Kent Reliance. Under the terms of the agreement, a new company was set up by Kent Reliance called Jersey Home Loans Limited. The new company catered for the needs of the Jersey borrowers and offered access via both post and internet to a range of services. Existing mortgage clients were being kept fully briefed by Standard Chartered Grindlays on all contact details and arrangements. Mike Lazenby, former Chief Executive of Kent Reliance, commented: "We are delighted to have completed this sale. Our move to Jersey signals a further change of gear and a significant phase in our planned expansion programme. With the launch of Jersey Home Loans Limited, our new customers can expect a genuinely personal service, flexible and competitive products and long term value that can be relied on." horizontal tab character in |quote= at position 227 (help)
  3. ↑ "KRBS Annual Report & Accounts 2009" (PDF). Kent Reliance Building Society. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
  4. ↑ "KRBS Report & Accounts 2008" (PDF). Kent Reliance Building Society. Retrieved 2009-07-11.
  5. ↑ "Kent Reliance and JC Flowers in joint venture talks". BBC News. 2010-07-12. Retrieved 2010-07-12.
  6. ↑ Simon, Emma (12 July 2010). "Kent Reliance: your questions answered". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 12 July 2010.

External links

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