Lambeth Building Society to merge with Portman

Subject to approval by members of Lambeth, and confirmation by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the merger is due to take effect on 30 September.

The enlarged building society will remain a mutual, owned by its members, and will be named Portman Building Society.

There will be no compulsory redundancies within the branch network as a direct result of the merger. Portman will also offer jobs to all Lambeth's head office staff at Portman's main offices in Bournemouth or Wolverhampton, together with relocation benefits.

Lambeth's head office on the corner of Westminster Bridge Road and Baylis Road is expected to close by 30 June 2007.

Lambeth's branches at Ashford, Brixton, Orpington, Sutton, Tonbridge and Upminster will be retained. To avoid local overlap, Lambeth's branches in Bromley and Woking, where Portman already has established branches, will be closed and the head office branch at Westminster Bridge Road will be relocated if suitable alternative premises can be found in the local vicinity.

A merger bonus will be paid to qualifying borrowers and savers of Lambeth Building Society. Each eligible member of Lambeth is expected to receive a taxable merger bonus of at least £400, although details are yet to be finalised.

Lambeth is currently the 20th largest building society in the UK, with assets of £1 billion. It has 9 branches and currently employes around 130 staff.