page_title: Cheltenham & Gloucester
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Cheltenham & Gloucester / History
caption_attribution_description: Headquarters of the Cheltenham &amp; Gloucester at Barnwood, Gloucester
context_page_description: Cheltenham & Gloucester plc was a mortgage and savings provider in the United Kingdom, a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group. C&G specialises in mortgages and savings products. Previously, C&G was a building society, the Cheltenham and Gloucester Building Society. Its headquarters were in Barnwood, Gloucester, Gloucestershire, England. C&G was closed to new mortgage and savings business on 9 September 2013.
  The branch network of Cheltenham & Gloucester was transferred to the newly established TSB Bank plc in September 2013, as part of a divestment of a significant portion of the Lloyds TSB business by Lloyds Banking Group. C&G branches were rebranded under the TSB brand along with a number of Lloyds TSB branches in England and Wales. Some C&G savings accounts and mortgages were also transferred to the new TSB Bank at that time; others remained with C&G.
  In April 2017, all remaining mortgage administration was transferred to Lloyds Bank and rebranded and the only remaining products were legacy savings accounts, with the last remaining C&G Fixed Rate Cash ISAs maturing in 2017.
context_section_description: C&G can trace its roots back to the Cheltenham and Gloucestershire Permanent Mutual Benefit Building and Investment Association. Its inaugural meeting, held at the Belle Vue Hotel, Cheltenham took place on 7 August 1850, and the society shortened its name to Cheltenham and Gloucestershire Benefit Building Society. The first President of the society was James Downing, of Cheltenham. Downing believed in a philosophy whereupon it was a citizen's duty to help other citizens and this was a driving force for him in helping the poor to achieve stability through home ownership. Even so, the Society was run rather shrewdly, and upon Downing's death in 1868, it had an annual income of £37,000.
  At first the Society was based in Cheltenham; its first Gloucester branch opened in 1896. Over the next 80 years, it expanded throughout the UK, opening its 100th branch in Pershore in 1979. During the 1980s, C&G acquired several smaller building societies, as consolidation of the sector intensified. C&G's headquarters were at Cheltenham House in central Cheltenham until their move to Barnwood in 1989. The then building society had commissioned a sculpture by British artist Barbara Hepworth, "Theme and Variations", which can still be seen displayed on the front of Cheltenham House.
  In 1984 Cotswold Building Society transferred its undertakings to C&G. This was followed by the Waltham Abbey in 1985, the Colchester, the London Permanent and the Cardiff in 1987, the Essex Equitable and the Bolton in 1988, the Bury St Edmunds in 1989, the Bedford, the Guardian, the Peckham and the Walthamstow in 1990, the Portsmouth and the Bedford Crown in 1991, and the Mid-Sussex in 1992.
  In 1993 C&G merged with the Heart of England Building Society. By the mid 1990s it had taken over the Portsmouth, Guardian, Peckham, Walthamstow, Cardiff, Colchester, London Permanent, Bolton, Bury St Edmunds and Essex Equitable building societies.
  C&G converted to a bank in 1995, as result of a takeover approach from Lloyds TSB. This involved the demutualisation of the society, and generated a windfall payment to its members.
  In 2007 C&G was restructured and closed 31 of its 195 branches, resulting in the loss of 315 jobs. At the same time, the savings liabilities of Cheltenham & Gloucester plc were transferred to C&G Savings, a division of the then Lloyds TSB Bank plc. The lender for C&G mortgages also changed to Lloyds TSB Bank plc, whilst Cheltenham & Gloucester plc remained in charge of designing and administering the mortgages.
  On 9 June 2009, it was reported that Lloyds Banking Group would close Cheltenham & Gloucester's 164 branches in November of that year, at the cost of around 1,660 jobs. Lloyds stated that the C&G brand name would be retained for mortgages and savings, while customers could use any branch of Lloyds TSB to access their accounts. However, on 19 August 2009, Lloyds announced that it would review this decision.
caption: Headquarters of Cheltenham & Gloucester at Barnwood, Gloucestershire
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