Life in the 18th and 19th century was tough. Banking was only available to the wealthy whilst the working classes found securing comfortable long-term housing almost impossible.

Ketley’s Building Society changed all that when it was founded in Birmingham in 1775…..

Ketley’s was the first Mutual Society to enable working class people to save and borrow money to build their own homes – 95 years before the “Mansfield Building Society” was established in 1870.

Mansfield Building Society initially started out as ‘The North Nottinghamshire Permanent Benefit Building Society’ before changing name to the ‘The Mansfield and District Permanent Benefit Building Society’. We granted our first mortgage of £120 to build a house on Victoria Street in the town.

In this age of global brands, mergers, consolidations and “big is beautiful” corporate ideology we are proud to say that we continue to serve our members and our community as an independent, mutual building society, focused on providing an individual personal service to new and existing customers alike.

Even though our assets now exceed £400m we have never lost sight of our proud heritage and mutual ethos, and remain to this day headquartered in Mansfield, with ancient Sherwood Forest on our doorstep.  Our culture and spirit has evolved from the area’s rich industrial past that remains part of our being, passing through generations from a time when Mansfield was at the very heart of the Nottinghamshire coal and textile industries.

Our brand represents all that we are.  It reflects our proud history but, most importantly, it looks to the future with strength and confidence – shining a light on our mutual ethos and customer-centric approach that remain no less important today than when the Society was founded in 1870.

It is both a privilege and a pleasure to be Mansfield Building Society.