Ms Gilmore explained that many of the larger conversions were triggered by the desire of building societies to de-mutualise by merging but felt they had been constrained from so doing because of the technicalities of UK building society legislation. Mutual forms would have a future in the 21 st century provided they had a modern legal structure and social framework to facilitate their development.
Mutuality is a certain form of ownership that can be found throughout the economy and society.
It is a form of organisation that tends to grow where markets are failing producers and consumers, or where the state plays a minimalist role. Mutuals are not easy to set up but they can be more efficient, more customer responsive and more stable than traditional company structures. The Annual Report of the Friendly Societies Commission for 1996-7 stated that there were 300 societies in the UK with assets totalling 10 billion. Credit unions are the fastest growing mutuals with the impetus for growth being the very high cost of short-term small scale borrowing for those on low incomes. One of the perceived problems of mutuality is that the relevant legislation is prescriptive, over-detailed and sometimes perverse.