The Society was established as the Leek United Permanent Benefit Building Society on 1 January 1863, under the motto ‘Firm and Lasting ’. The burgeoning building society movement of the mid-19th century saw hundreds of local mutual savings and loan organisations opening up across the country, and at the time of Leek United's incorporation, there were almost 3,000 building societies in existence. Today, "the friendlier face of finance" remains one of the country's oldest surviving and largest independent mutuals. By 1883, the Society had total assets of £90,000, reserves of £5,000 and a membership of 1,328. It changed its name to Leek United & Midlands Building Society in 1919, and then to Leek United Building Society in 1990. Unlike many of the UK's other building societies, Leek United has never grown through acquisition or merger. In 1999, Leek United was the target of a hostile takeover bid by Murray Financial Corporation, an Edinburgh-based financial group, which tabled a £30.5 million bid for the Society. It was a time when carpetbagging was rife, and the UK's remaining building societies were forced to fight for survival as opportunists sought to strip them of their mutual status and convert them into plc banks. Although Leek United's Board rejected Murray Financial's offer, Murray gained the approval of 100 of the Society's members to call a special general meeting to consider the bid. It was estimated that each of Leek United's 60,000 members could gain an £800 windfall from the sale of the Society. The bid failed, however, when the Society's members rejected the offer by an almost three to one ratio. Leek United remains committed to the principles of mutuality, serving the interests and needs of its members, rather than paying dividends to external shareholders. In 2013 Leek United celebrated its 150th anniversary – and in 2017 reached another milestone, when for the first time in its history the Society's assets reached over £1bn.
Community
Leek United is actively engaged with local communities across the four counties – Cheshire, Derbyshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire – it serves, and has raised and donated money to many charitable causes and organisations, including: the County Air Ambulance Trust, the Douglas Macmillan Hospice, East Cheshire Hospice, Donna Louise Children's Hospice, Bloodwise, Macmillan Cancer Support, Treetops Hospice, Severn Hospice and The Rossendale Trust. One of its biggest beneficiaries is the County Air Ambulance Trust, which alone has received £227,000 from the Society via its County Air Ambulance Trust Affinity Account since the account was introduced in 2008. Leek United also has strong and longstanding links with the Douglas Macmillan Hospice and the Donna Louise Children's Hospice in Stoke-on-Trent. Both hospices receive donations for every vote cast and, until 2018, for each member questionnaire returned at the Society's Annual General Meeting. The Society is also currently main sponsor of the annual Leek & District Show in its Staffordshire Moorlands heartland.
