The Yorkshire Building Society is currently the third largest building society in the United Kingdom with assets of over £12.5 billion and over a million customers on its books.
It was formed in 1982 from the merger of the Huddersfield and Bradford Building Society with the West Yorkshire Building Society.
The "West Yorkshire" (based in Dewsbury) dated back to 1866, whilst the "Huddersfield and Bradford" was itself the product of a prior merger between the Huddersfield Equitable Permanent Benefit Building Society (established 1864) and the Bradford Self Help Permanent Building Society (established 1885).
Unlike many former building societies that have converted themselves into banks the Yorkshire has no plans to follow this path and is committed to remaining a mutual organisation. With the Britannia Building Society it has established a branch sharing arrangement.
It has an offshore banking subsidiary in Yorkshire Guernsey Limited but otherwise sticks to its basic business of mortgages and deposit taking.