Britannia carpetbagger defeated

MEMBERS of Britannia Building Society have voted overwhelmingly to stay mutual. In the annual elections to the board, Britannia customers rejected carpetbagger candidate Richard Yendall by a 5:1 margin.

He received just 16% of the total vote and failed in his attempt to win a seat on the board.

It was a record ballot for the society – with 370,000 ballot slips returned, representing 30% of the total number eligible. Britannia pledged 10p to charity for every vote form received.

Chief executive Graham Stow, operations director John Suffolk and non-executive directors Bridget Rosewell and Rhidian Jones retained their seats.

'Britannia members have shown their clear and unequivocal support for their society remaining independent and mutually owned,' said chairman Barrie Bernstein.

'They have overwhelmingly endorsed our view that Richard Yendall was not a suitable person to serve as a director, not least because of his carpetbagging history. We remain committed to staying mutual,' he added.

The results of the ballot were announced at the society‘s annual general meeting at Stoke on Trent on 25 April.