Question: What is the year of the building society whose successor is one of the leading personal financial services companies in the United Kingdom ? A

text: Building society
List of building societies -- United Kingdom
Ten building societies of the United Kingdom demutualised between 1989 and 2000 , either becoming a bank or being acquired by a larger bank . [ 12 ] [ 13 ] By 2008 , every building society that floated on the stock market in the wave of demutualisations of the 1980s and 1990s had either been sold to a conventional bank , or been nationalised . [ 13 ]
A building society is a financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. Building societies offer banking and related financial services, especially savings and mortgage lending. Building societies exist in the United Kingdom and Australia, and used to exist in Ireland and several Commonwealth countries. They are similar to credit unions in organisation, though few enforce a common bond. However, rather than promoting thrift and offering unsecured and business loans, the purpose of a building society is to provide home mortgages to members. Borrowers and depositors are society members, setting policy and appointing directors on a one-member, one-vote basis. Building societies often provide other retail banking services, such as current accounts, credit cards and personal loans. The term building society first arose in the 19th century in Great Britain from cooperative savings groups. In the United Kingdom, building societies actively compete with banks for most consumer banking services, especially mortgage lending and savings accounts, and regulations permit up to half of their lending to be funded by debt to non-members, allowing societies to access wholesale bond and money markets to fund mortgages. The world's largest building society is Britain's Nationwide Building Society. Further, in Australia, building societies also compete with retail banks and offer the full range of banking services to consumers.
Name Fate Successor Year Current position
Abbey National converted to plc Santander 1989 The new bank , also known as Abbey , was acquired by Banco Santander and now rebranded as Santander
Cheltenham and Gloucester taken over by Lloyds Bank 1994 Became part of Lloyds TSB , although C & G still had a branch network which became part of TSB Bank in summer 2013
National & Provincial taken over by Abbey National 1995 Business merged into Abbey National ( now Santander ) , name no longer used
Alliance & Leicester converted to plc Santander 1997 Acquired by Banco Santander , which also owns Abbey , in October 2008 , and merged into Santander in 2010
Bristol and West taken over by Bank of Ireland 1997 Became a division of Bank of Ireland but its savings balances and branch network transferred to the Britannia Building Society in 2005 ( which in turn merged with Co-operative Financial Services in 2009 ) . Bristol & West mortgages ceased trading on 10 January 2009
Halifax converted to plc  1997 Became part of HBOS in 2001 , which itself became part of Lloyds Banking Group in 2009 . Trading name still in use
Northern Rock converted to plc Virgin Money Northern Rock ( Asset Management ) 1997 Nationalised following near bankruptcy in February 2008 , due to the financial crisis of 2007-2008 . Most of the business bought by Virgin Money UK in January 2012 , with remaining riskier mortgage business retained by the government and renamed NRAM plc ( now Landmark Mortgages Limited )
The Woolwich converted to plc Barclays 1997 Now part of Barclays plc . Woolwich brand name now only used for mortgages from Barclays with the Woolwich branch network merging with that of Barclays in 2007
Birmingham Midshires taken over by Halifax 1999 Now owned by Lloyds Banking Group . The brand name is still retained , but running entirely by post and internet
Bradford & Bingley converted to plc  2000 Nationalisation with sale of savings book to Abbey ( now Santander )