The Nottingham to offer ‘best advice’ service

The Nottingham is set to help thousands of people living in its East Midlands heartland get their long-term financial futures back on track by launching a new service that provides access to ‘best advice' financial products and caters for their distinct needs.

The society is one of the biggest and most respected providers of mortgages and savings accounts in the UK. Now, through the launch of its new financial planning arm, its 32 branches are going to become major providers of pensions, investments and protection for the home and family.

The launch of the new and independent financial planning service will help address a multi-billion pound personal finance black hole that has developed in the region in recent years. Nationally the UK's pension deficit currently stands at more than £1 trillion.

Driving this major new initiative is The Nottingham's commitment to providing tailored advice and solutions that are appropriate to the circumstances off individual customers.

"We're evolving the Society so that it continues to meet the needs of existing and new customers - without compromising our reputation for offering advice and products that cater for real needs and add real value," commented Lorraine Giddings, Head of The Nottingham's Branch Network.

"Local communities need to face up to the significant challenges they will face in the future in relation to personal finances because there are some huge changes on the way that will have an impact on us all. That's why The Nottingham is taking this matter very seriously and why we believe we have a strong role to play in helping local people make arrangements that suit their individual circumstances."

The scale of the problems facing the region include:

More than 100,000 pensioners living in Nottingham, Derby and Lincoln being required to find the equivalent of £2.1 billion to fund a £25,000-a-year lifestyle in 2030. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), 62% of East Midland households currently have an annual income of £30,000, or less;

A growing dependency on the state to provide an acceptable level of retirement income - with as many as 38% of people expecting to use the State Pension to fund their retirement. Latest figures published by the government reveal the value of the State Pension in 2030 is expected to be worth the equivalent of 10% of today's average earnings, which currently stand at £25,000 per household. According to ONS, 25% of people living in the East Midlands are currently pensioners who gain most, or all, of their income from the state;

One-in-four homeowners don't have any insurance - and those that do are, on average, under-insured by as much as £9,000. This has left a £15.3 billion hole in insurance cover in the East Midlands - and the scale of the problem is escalating annually;

Savers investing less money than they did 25 years ago. For example, just 4% of household income was saved in 2008, whereas in 1973 this figure was 9.7%;

According to the government, those most at risk in future years include divorced mothers who have not been able to accumulate private pension rights, today's over-50s, those with chronic ill health who are unable to work and/ those in failing occupational pension schemes

"Quite clearly there are some big issues that need addressing sooner rather than later," added Lorraine Giddings. "Organisations like building societies have an important role to play among their local communities, particularly when it comes to helping local people make important decisions that are likely to have an impact on their liong-term financial well-being.

"We've spent the last two years developing The Nottingham so it is increasingly able to meet the needs of local people - and developing a new financial planning arm is a major strategic development for us that ensures the Society keeps in step with the people that matter most to us."

m2 financial, an award-winning financial services organisation, has been chosen by The Nottingham to partner the Society in the new venture.

Paul Chafer, m2's commercial director, commented: "We're delighted to have the opportunity to work closely with The Nottingham on this important new service.

"The days when people will be happy to accept a financial product from a provider just because it is recommended to them are long gone. Increasingly people will have more knowledge about what they need - and want they don't require. Our job, working in partnership with colleagues at the Society, will be to harness this interest and show people what can be achieved if they are prepared to start the process of investing in their futures.

"Our service can assist the overwhelming majority of people, regardless of the level of their income. The biggest asset they need is a willingness to act decisively."