16th January 2025
From celebrations and events, to volunteering, and refurbishments, the Vernon gang had a busy 2024. Let's recap what we got up to...
2024 was a milestone year for the Vernon as we celebrated our 100th birthday! In that time, we've proudly to served Greater Manchester and Cheshire as your local mutual building society. With over 100 years of bringing together savers and borrowers to reach their financial goals, we’ve always believed that together, we're greater! From helping returning soldiers buy their own homes in 1945, to being a reassuring voice, easily contactable during economic downtimes in 2008, we’ve always been here for our Members, and we still care about the things that really matter.
From celebrations and events, to volunteering and refurbishments, the Vernon gang had a busy year. Let's recap what we got up to...
In January, to celebrate our centenary, we launched the Vernon Charitable Foundation which has over £100,000 to support local charities in Stockport, Cheshire, and Greater Manchester! Find out more about our Charitable Foundation here.
We had a jam-packed year full of celebrations with our colleagues, Members and community. On 27th March, we held an event at our refurbished flagship St Petersgate branch. During our special day, we buried a time capsule with help from pupils at St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School, to give school children in 2124 a historic cache of what life was like in Greater Manchester in 2024. You can find a full list of items in our centenary time capsule here.
We want to say a big thank you to all Vernon colleagues, past and present, for their contribution to this proud day. We're now shaping the Vernon's history for the next century, building a better future together!
On 18th May, we held our Family Fun Day at Vernon Park, and what a great day it was! We hosted the event in collaboration with Pure Innovations, with the day packed with entertainment for the whole family, including various arts and crafts activities. There were also many opportunities to meet our mascot, Vernon Bear, who had arranged a special 'bear hunt'! Poynton Brass Band, who we proudly sponsor, set a lively tone with their music all day, plus, there were plenty of fun stalls to visit with different activities and goods from local businesses.
A big thank you to everyone who attended the Vernon Family Fun Day back in May. We had a great day celebrating an incredible 100 years with our local community - we’re grateful for your continued support!
Find out more about our day here.
On 6th July, we had the pleasure of being the main sponsor at Together Trust's Join Together Festival. The event was accessible and family-friendly, with a full day of entertainment for the whole family.
There were food and drink stalls, therapy animals, glitter, sensory experiences, fairground rides, story reading, games, live music, and much more! Vernon Bear even popped down and had his turn on the climbing wall! There was plenty of music throughout the day provided by Poynton Brass Band. It was our pleasure to sponsor an event raising funds for an amazing local cause!
Find out more about our day here.
.jpg)
To finish off our £1.2 million investment to improve our branch network over 2 years, we refurbished 4 more of our branches in 2024: St Petersgate, Bramhall, Poynton, and Marple. We've created a fresh and contemporary look that makes better use of our space and enables us to better support and engage with our Members and local communities.
As with all our recent branch refurbishments, our branches were designed by Standing Space, and work was carried out by local contractors Monks Morton Design Interiors, Flexible Office and Sharp. We would also like to say a big thank you to Pete Adamson, who supplied the photography for our large window etchings, showing off some landmarks around the branches!
Our branch refurbishment program represents our commitment to our Members, local high-streets, and the communities we serve. We hope our Members, both new and old, enjoy the spaces we have created.
In 2024, our colleagues volunteered for a combined 563 hours for local charities and non-profits, increasing our volunteering by 200 hours in 2024. Overall, we supported 17 different organisations throughout the year.
We are very proud of the efforts that the Vernon gang have made throughout the year. It is great to know that our colleagues are making a difference and supporting communities across Greater Manchester and Cheshire. We look forward to continuing our efforts in 2025.
We're excited to have Darren Ditchburn joining us as our new CEO, proudly replacing Steve Fletcher. He has 20 years of experience within the building society sector, having worked his way up at Darlington Building Society. We know that Darren is a great fit for our values and culture within the Vernon.
Darren says: “Steve leaves behind a brilliant legacy and I am incredibly proud to be joining Vernon Building Society as Chief Executive at such an exciting time. I can’t wait to pick up the mantle and continue taking the Vernon forward. In doing so, I will continue to put great importance on what really matters; our Members, local communities, colleagues and their futures."
During his almost seven-years of leading the Vernon, Steve Fletcher helped us achieve our £1.2 million modernisation of our branch network, our strong business performance in turbulent economic times, and helped us celebrate 100 years of serving our Members.
Steve says: “I feel the Society is in great shape and we have really exciting plans for the next five years. Now is the right time to move aside and allow Darren to drive the organisation forward with the same passion and energy I brought with me six even years ago. I’m hugely proud of what we’ve achieved at Vernon Building Society, particularly the working environment and culture that’s been developed through engaging and empowering colleagues. I’m delighted to be leaving Members, colleagues and the community an ambitious and modern organisation which can robustly adapt to the fast-changing external environment.”
It's great to look back at some of the events that made 2024 an incredible year of centenary celebrations. We're very proud of how much we achieved with the help of our colleagues, Members and local community. We eagerly anticipate 2025 to see what the new year brings. Keep your eyes peeled to see what we have planned!