The Earl Shilton Building Society (esbs) was established in 1857. With assets of around £160m, it is the oldest building society in Leicestershire, and has over 15,000 members, 36 staff and two branches. It continues to help individuals and families achieve their financial goals by offering competitive savings accounts, personally underwritten mortgages and a friendly and highly professional approach to customer service. Based in Earl Shilton, which is located in the Midlands county of Leicestershire, the Society also operates locally in nearby Barwell. It lends in England and Wales, although its savings heartland is the East and West Midlands.

It uses the strap line, ‘esbs - as individual as you’, to allow it to increase its online presence and project a ‘lighthouse identity’ as a differentiator to other societies. This underpins its expansion into direct mortgage business, to complement its strong ties to mortgage broker panels and to ensure continued and controlled growth in its core assets. Its general approach to lending is cautious but the Society’s expertise in personal underwriting allows it to meet the needs of segments of the market that some others would not consider.

The Society is in excellent financial and commercial health, enjoying strong levels of capital and liquidity. It maintains an open and constructive relationship with its principle regulator, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), and has invested in strengthening its risk management framework (including cyber risk mitigation) in the past 18 months. It is committed to the personal development of its staff; for example, it has sponsored three senior colleagues through MSc programmes at Loughborough University under the Building Societies Association’s designed management training programme. It also actively supports local charities, including Action Homeless in Leicester.

The Society is very proud of its heritage and, despite its relatively limited size, looks forward with confidence to its future development and independent future. It takes particular pride in its association with the building societies sector, which still plays a significant role in facilitating homeownership in the UK through a mutual ownership model.

The Board of Earl Shilton Building Society provides leadership and direction in achieving the Society’s objectives and activities and is responsible for the continued success of the Society for its members. It is responsible for setting strategy, formulating policies and providing guidance on the management of the Society. It regularly reviews financial performance and ensures that there are effective risk management controls and procedures in place. It reviews and updates the Corporate Plan for the Society on an annual basis, ensuring that the strategic objectives are fit for purpose and are aligned to the Society’s purpose and values. 

This is a Notified Non-Executive Director position. The Society’s Non-Executive Directors have a fiduciary duty to act at all times in the interests of the Society. Key responsibilities include:

• Providing a proactive contribution to the Board by providing independent oversight and constructive challenge to the strategic direction of the Society.
• Signing off on the Corporate Plan and hold management to account in delivery against the Plan.
• Providing oversight and leadership of the Society within a framework of prudent and effective controls which enable risk to be assessed and managed.
• Setting and monitoring the Society’s strategic aims and ensuring that management information is robust and adequate for decision-making.
• Establishing and managing effective working relationships with each member of the Board, the Leadership Team and, where relevant, external providers.
• Maintaining these relationships with the highest levels of integrity and personal accountability, candour, appropriate challenge, rigour and the timely sharing of information and concerns; and with the willingness to work together in the best interests of the Society and its members.
• Serving on certain Board subcommittees (Risk, Audit, Nominations, or Remuneration). It is also expected that this person will attend the Assets and Liabilities Committee (ALCO), but not be a formal member as this is an executive function.

The Board operates and values a collegiate and supportive culture amongst its attendees, which ensures the contributions of all directors support the stewardship of the Society.

Earl Shilton Building Society is seeking a new Non-Executive Director to replace Ian Dale, who is retiring in 2024 at the end of his nine-year term. This individual will have operated as a senior leader in FCA-regulated retail financial services and be familiar with mortgage and savings products, ILAAP and ICAAP frameworks and financial markets.

The Board is open minded with regard to the specific functional background of this individual. Candidates should be financially literate and able to add value to the Assets and Liabilities Committee (ALCO). This experience could have been gained in a senior leadership role within relevant organisations where they have either had direct responsibility for, or broad oversight of, risk and financial matters, but they do not need to be a chartered accountant. esbs would also be open to former board-level consultants to the sector where they are able to demonstrate relevant technical competencies and market knowledge.

Prior mutual experience is not required and the scale of organisations where relevant experience could have been gained is not a priority in the decision-making process, but those who have worked exclusively within large financial organisations should demonstrate in their applications how they would apply this experience in a smaller company environment.

Candidates can be based throughout the UK, provided they are comfortable with the requirement for in-person Board meetings in Earl Shilton. The Board is also open to candidates for whom this would be their first non-executive position.

Alex Robinson, Chair
Paul Tilley, CEO
Stephen Wigfull, CFO
Chris Greenwell
Darren Hickman
Ian Dale
Laura Mackie
John Stables

This role is remunerated. Expenses will not be covered for Board and sub-committee meetings, but they are available for additional activities. In broadest terms, the time commitment is expected to be around two to three days per month, averaging out to approximately 25-30 days per year. This includes eight Board meetings per year plus one strategy day (and follow-up meeting) and ad hoc involvement.

Complete Board Schedule can be found here.

The appointment is for a three-year term, which is typically renewed for two further terms at the discretion of the Board.

This organisation is based in Earl Shilton and all Board meetings will take place in person. Committee meetings are typically held virtually. Candidates will therefore be UK based.