Nottingham Building Society selects Magnetic for customer-focused strategy

Nottingham Building Society has appointed Magnetic as an innovation and design partner. The consultancy will now support the building society to create a new customer-centric product excellence strategy.

In 1849, a small group of Nottingham businessmen, led by local Quaker Samuel Fox, set up Nottingham Building Society. The organisation has since grown to a team of more than 500 people, spread across Leicestershire, Derbyshire, South Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Staffordshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, and, of course, Nottinghamshire – while looking after over £4 billion in funds.

Such scale means that the firm, which prides itself on its focus for customer needs, needs to recalibrate its strategy once in a while. To ensure that the building society remains centred on the people using its services – who ‘own’ the organisation, rather than a set of shareholders in traditional banks – consultants from Magnetic have been brought on board.

The B-Corp certified professional services firm will now support Nottingham Building Society as an innovation and design partner to support its customer-centric and product excellence strategy. This partnership forms part of Nottingham Building Society’s wider commitment to innovation as customer expectations continue to evolve across financial services.

Sally Gaudion, chief customer officer at Nottingham Building Society, said, “As a mutual, everything we do starts with understanding the needs of the people and communities we serve. Our strategy is focused on building a Society that is totally customer-obsessed, leads with innovation, and better equipped to deliver meaningful products and services for our members, customers and brokers. Working with specialist partners is an important part of accelerating that journey. Magnetic brings the combination of expertise, challenge, and collaborative energy that will help us continue laying the foundations for future growth and driving innovation in a way that stays true to our purpose as a modern mutual.”

As customer expectations continue to evolve across financial services, Nottingham Building Society is focused on building on the strengths of its mutual model while investing in the capabilities and partnerships that can help it respond with relevance, pace, and purpose. Looking ahead, Magnetic will bring specialist expertise in product innovation, product strategy, customer insight and human-centred design, supporting the society as it continues to strengthen the way insight informs its future development plans.

Jenny Burns, CEO at Magnetic, added, “Nottingham Building Society has a clear commitment to putting people first, and that is central to how great products and services are built. We are proud to be working with a team that shares our belief in the power of customer understanding, innovation, and purposeful design to create better outcomes. The society has a strong foundation, a distinctive mutual purpose, and a genuine appetite to keep evolving. We are excited to support Nottingham Building Society as it continues to develop its customer-led approach and strengthen the role innovation plays in its future.”