Halifax (bank) facts for kids
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The Halifax Building
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Trade name
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Halifax |
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| Division of Bank of Scotland | |
| Industry | Finance and insurance |
| Founded | 1853 |
| Headquarters | The Halifax Building Halifax, West Yorkshire, UK |
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Area served
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United Kingdom |
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Key people
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Russell Galley retired May 2023 (Managing Director) |
| Products | Financial services |
| Owner | Lloyds Banking Group |
| Parent | Bank of Scotland plc |
Halifax is a well-known British bank. It used to be called Halifax Building Society. People often just call it The Halifax. It is now part of the Bank of Scotland, which is owned by Lloyds Banking Group.
The bank gets its name from the town of Halifax, West Yorkshire, in the UK. This is where it first started in 1853. Back then, it was a "building society". A building society is a financial organization owned by its members (customers who save or borrow money). By 1913, Halifax had grown to be the biggest building society in the UK. It stayed that way until 1997.
In 1997, Halifax changed from being a building society to a public company called Halifax plc. This meant it was now owned by shareholders, not just its customers. Later, in 2001, Halifax plc joined with the Bank of Scotland to form a new group called HBOS. In 2009, Lloyds TSB took over HBOS. Since then, Halifax has been a part of Lloyds Banking Group.
Contents
The Story of Halifax
How Halifax Began
Halifax started from a group called the Loyal Georgian Society. This group helped people by lending them money. When they stopped lending, leaders in Halifax decided to create a new organization. In December 1852, they suggested forming the Halifax Permanent Building and Investment Society.
The rules for this new society were set in February 1853. It was officially registered as the Halifax Permanent Building Society. A young lawyer's clerk named Jonas Tylor, who was 24, became its Secretary. He worked with John Fisher, who was the president. Jonas Tylor was very important to Halifax's growth. He stayed as Secretary for almost 50 years.
Early Growth and Branches
Jonas Tylor believed in opening many branches. In its first year, Halifax opened three branches. By 1862, it had 12 branches, all in the town of Halifax. The first branch outside Halifax opened in Huddersfield in 1862.
Halifax also helped local business people build homes. For example, Edward Akroyd, a mill owner, built houses for working-class families. Later, John Crossley, a carpet maker, created the West Hill Park Model Dwellings. Halifax helped pay for these housing projects.
By 1871, ten more local offices had opened. A new main office was built in 1873. In the next ten years, 22 more branches opened, including in big cities like Bradford and Leeds. By 1902, Halifax had 11 main branches across Yorkshire and 49 smaller ones.
The Enoch Hill Years
After Jonas Tylor, a new leader named Enoch Hill took over in 1903. He was 37 years old and would become a very famous name in building society history. Enoch Hill had a humble beginning, working in a mill from a young age. He learned a lot by helping the blind secretary of another building society.
Growing Across the UK
One of Enoch Hill's first big decisions was to focus on helping people buy their own homes. Especially those buying less expensive properties. By 1913, Halifax was the largest building society in the UK based on its assets (what it owned).
After World War I, Halifax started to grow beyond Yorkshire and Lancashire. The first branch in the south of England opened in Shaftesbury in 1919. The very important London office opened in 1924. Between 1918 and 1928, about 100 new branches and agencies opened. This doubled Halifax's reach across the country. New offices also opened in Glasgow and Edinburgh.
Merging with Halifax Equitable
By 1928, there were two very large building societies in Halifax. One was the Halifax Permanent, and the other was the Halifax Equitable. They decided to join together. The Halifax Equitable had also grown very quickly. When they merged, Halifax Permanent had assets worth £33 million, and Equitable had £14 million.
Both societies had tried to start their own banks, but they sold them. After the merger, Halifax quickly opened branches in more major cities. These included Aberdeen, Birmingham, Cardiff, Belfast, Derby, and Newcastle. This expansion, along with a boom in private housing, helped Halifax's assets grow from £47 million in 1928 to £123 million in 1938.
Sir Enoch Hill retired in 1938 at age 72. He had led Halifax for 35 years. He was also knighted in 1928 for his work.
A New Main Office
In 1973, a new main office was built in Trinity Road, Halifax. This building had a unique diamond shape. It was often shown in Halifax's advertisements in the 1980s and 1990s.
Underneath the building, there is a special storage area. It was built to keep property deeds (important legal documents for homes). Today, this storage is less important because property information is mostly kept on a central computer system by HM Land Registry.
Becoming a Public Company
In the 1980s, new laws allowed building societies more freedom. They could offer more types of services. Halifax started offering current accounts (like checking accounts) and credit cards. These were usually offered by commercial banks. In 1993, Halifax even started a branch in Spain to help British people buying homes there.
The new laws also allowed building societies to change from being owned by their members to being public companies. This is called "demutualisation". In 1995, Halifax announced it would merge with another large society, the Leeds Permanent Building Society. Then, it would become a public company.
On June 2, 1997, Halifax officially became a public company and its shares were sold on the London Stock Exchange. Over 7.5 million customers of the society became shareholders in the new bank. This was the biggest increase in shareholders in UK history!
As Halifax plc, it was the fifth largest bank in the UK. It continued to grow by buying other companies. In 1996, it bought Clerical Medical Fund Managers, a life insurance company. In 1999, it bought the Birmingham Midshires Building Society. In 2000, Halifax started a new bank called Intelligent Finance, which operated by phone and internet.
Joining HBOS
In 2001, Halifax decided to merge with the Bank of Scotland. This created a new large banking group called Halifax Bank of Scotland, or HBOS. Its main office was in Edinburgh. Both Halifax and Bank of Scotland continued to be used as brand names. In Ireland, the Bank of Scotland's retail business even changed its name to Halifax.
In 2006, a law was passed to simplify HBOS's structure. This meant that Halifax plc officially became a part of Bank of Scotland plc. So, Halifax is now a trading name, but it is not a separate legal company anymore.
Part of Lloyds Banking Group
In January 2009, Lloyds Banking Group bought HBOS. This happened during a time when HBOS's share price was falling. Bank of Scotland plc, including the Halifax brand, became a fully owned part of Lloyds Banking Group.
In February 2009, Halifax changed its current accounts. They introduced new fees for overdrafts (when you spend more money than you have). For example, if you were overdrawn, you would pay a daily fee. They also started offering a "Reward current account" where customers could get a monthly payment if they met certain conditions. These changes caused a lot of discussion in the media.
In October 2009, Halifax Estate Agency was sold. Its branches were renamed Reeds Rains. In November 2009, a power failure at an IT center caused problems for all Halifax branches, cash machines, and online banking for several hours.
Advertising Campaigns
Since 2000, Halifax has run many successful advertising campaigns. They have featured popular characters from TV shows and movies. These include The Flintstones, Top Cat, Scooby-Doo, The Wizard of Oz, and Thunderbirds.
In February 2021, a Halifax TV advertisement used the Oasis song "Stand By Me".
See also
In Spanish: Halifax Bank para niños
- Sabadell Solbank
- Halifax (Irish bank)
- Bank of Scotland International
