In association with
DARLINGTON BUILDING SOCIETY
Andrew Craddock steps down in April as CEO of Darlington Building Society. He talks to PETER BARRON about his seven transformative years at the helm…
As he prepares to vacate the hotseat, Andrew Craddock recalls the heart-warming moment he came to fully appreciate the vital role Darlington Building Society plays in the community.
Within weeks of relocating from his Buckinghamshire roots to become the Society’s new chief executive in December 2018, Andrew had an urgent call from John Ellison, founder of the 700 Club, a Darlington charity dedicated to supporting people at risk of homelessness.
A meeting was arranged and John explained that a boiler in the charity’s Church View apartment block had been condemned, meaning 32 vulnerable people faced a winter without adequate heating.
When John asked Andrew if the Society could help, arrangements were swiftly put in place to pay for a new boiler out of funds allocated through the Society’s pledge to donate 5% of profits to local good causes.
“The 5% pledge had been launched the previous year and was one of the main reasons I’d been attracted to Darlington Building Society,” recalls Andrew.
“Lots of building societies donate money but not in such a structured way. Being able to help the 700 Club in its hour of need was confirmation that I’d made the right decision by coming to a society viewed by the local community as being a force for good.”
Andrew brought more than 30 years’ experience in the finance sector to Darlington Building Society when he joined from Buckinghamshire Building Society, where he’d been chief executive for four years. Prior to that, he’d spent time with both Allied Irish Bank and Barclays Bank.
As he looks back on his time in Darlington, he breaks down his priorities into four categories: people, community, modernisation and financial…
PEOPLE
Andrew believes developing people is the “core function” of being a CEO, and his leadership was put to an unprecedented test in the spring of 2020.
With concern growing about the spread of the Covid-19 virus, he took the difficult decision to cancel the annual staff party scheduled for March.
“No one fully understood the extent of what was happening, but my priority had to be to keep staff safe,” recalls Andrew.
Once the Government had confirmed the lockdown, the business quickly adapted to the crisis, with staff being equipped with laptops to work from home. Meanwhile, Perspex screens for the branches were ordered, along with supplies of sanitiser.
Alongside those practical measures, Andrew put communication at the heart of the pandemic strategy, instigating weekly all-staff calls.
“It was important to reassure staff while giving the impression of being calm without showing how worried I really was,” he says.
Andrew was separated from his family for four months, while he stayed in the North East and stuck by the lockdown rules not to travel to see them in the south.
Despite the challenges, the business continued to operate, with stronger than ever team spirit emerging.
Andrew went on to build a stronger people culture, instigating three development programmes in the company: for first-time leaders, middle-managers, and aspiring executives.
During his time, staff turnover has dropped from 21% in 2019 to 9% last year, and it’s a source of pride that several key employees have benefited from significant career development.
Customer satisfaction has also improved, rising from 97.5% in 2019 to 98.8% in 2025. The Net Promoter Score – a widely used customer loyalty and satisfaction metric – has gone from +87.6 to +92.3.
There’s also a greater emphasis on diversity and supporting vulnerable customers, underlined by a training partnership with the North East Autism Society, which resulted in a Gold accreditation.
COMMUNITY
2025 was a milestone year for Darlington Building Society – and reaching the £1m mark in grants given away to local good causes is another highlight for Andrew.
It was fitting that the grant taking the Society over the £1m milestone last October was an award of £11,000 to The 700 Club to support charity’s ‘forever homes’ initiative to help families in temporary accommodation find longer-term homes.
By the time the Society reached the £1m milestone, 167 good causes had been supported through the 5% fund. The biggest single grant came in February 2022 when £20,000 was donated to help buy a van for The Bread and Butter Thing, so healthy meals could be distributed to families needing help.
Cummins Engines and Darlington Borough Council matched the Society’s contribution to launch the Bread and Butter Thing following the charity’s success in Manchester.
“We were given a presentation showing the impact in Manchester, and we looked at each other and said: ‘We have to do this’. One of the slides showed there was a 10-year difference in life expectancy between one side of Darlington and the other, and that really shocked me,” recalls Andrew.
Further 2025 milestones were the 250th anniversary of the building society movement, and the bicentennial of the Stockton & Darlington Railway.
Andrew made an early call to make Darlington Building Society a key sponsor of the bicentennial celebrations, sponsoring the new exhibition hall at Hopetown railway museum.
“As a historic institution in the town, and one so close to the local community, it was inconceivable to me that we wouldn’t play our part in the 200th anniversary of the first passenger railway,” insists Andrew.
Darlington Credit Union, Darlington Operatic Society, Theatre Hullabaloo, Daisy Chain, The Clervaux Trust, and The Viking Boat Company – a woodwork charity dedicated to supporting military veterans – are among the many other good causes to benefit from the Society’s charitable giving under Andrew’s stewardship.
The Society’s staff have also made effective use of the two days of paid volunteering they are given each year.
In addition, the Society launched a financial education programme in schools in 2023, with Andrew introducing the business to specialist charity WizeUp to deliver free workshops to secondary pupils on subjects such as saving, budgeting, mortgages, and debt. Last year, the programme expanded into primary schools and by the end of 2025, 5,420 pupils had benefited across 16 schools.
MODERNISATION
At his first strategy session with the board in 2019, Andrew identified what was needed to transform Darlington Building Society into a modern financial institution equipped for the digital age.
It led to a record £5m investment in the infrastructure of the business, with new telephone system, refreshed website, online mortgage and savings platform, and a move to a cloud-based IT system.
“Modernisation is partly about technology and partly about people and capability, and we’re a totally different organisation now,” declares Andrew. “The building blocks are in place and now we have to leverage that investment for the benefit of members.”
FINANCIAL
Investment in people, the community and the business can only be made if a company makes a profit, and the financial performance of the Society under Andrew’s leadership has undeniably flourished.
In yet another 2025 milestone, the Society surpassed the £1 billion mark in total assets, rising from £666m in 2019.
Another compelling measure is the improvement of the Net Interest Margin (NIM), from 1.6% in 2019 to 2.19% last year, through the introduction of risk adjusted pricing on mortgages.
Mortgage growth has gone from £40m seven years ago to £100m in 2025, with savings growth rising from £52m to £84m. Core Profit before tax went from £1.8m in 2019 to £3.6m last year.
Of the UK’s 42 building societies, Andrew has taken the Darlington from 22nd to 19th, winning multiple awards along the way, including Building Society of the Year at the MoneyAge Mortgage Awards and Best Building Society at the British Bank Awards in 2024.
The Society was also Building Society of the Year at the 2021 MoneyAge Mortgage Awards for its pandemic response and digital upgrades…
Andrew now plans to work in non-executive director roles in the financial sector, so he can use his 40 years’ experience to “put something back and help the next generation of leaders”.
However, he will retain a link to the North East as a governor of Darlington College, where he will chair the audit committee overseeing a £20m investment in a new STEM centre.
“It’s been a huge honour to be Chief Executive of Darlington Building Society during such an important period, and to get to know the North East,” says Andrew.
“When I first got the call, I had to look up Darlington on the map, but my wife, Gill, and I have grown to love the area. It’s such a beautiful and friendly part of the world and we feel like adopted North Easterners.
“Darlington Building Society celebrates its 170th anniversary in 2026, it’s in robust shape, and I wish my successor, Alex Windle, well as he takes the business into its next era.”
The last word goes to 700 Club founder, John Ellison, who also vividly remembers the 2018 meeting with Andrew when the boiler broke down.
“Our relationship with Darlington Building Society goes back a long way, and it’s an organisation that’s approachable and listens,” says John.
“It might have been a bit of a cheek to ring up the new Chief Executive and ask for a meeting, but the response was immediate.
“By staying true to the traditions of Darlington Building Society, Andrew has made a massive contribution to the local community – always there, always supportive – and we thank him for all he’s done.”
After seven years in the hotseat, Andrew Craddock deserves a warm send-off.
AIMING TO BUILD ON STRONG FOUNDATIONS
ALEX Windle will succeed Andrew Craddock as CEO of Darlington Building Society after the AGM in April.
Alex, whose previous role was Chief Customer Officer at West Brom Building Society, has a wealth of experience in consumer and financial services.
He said: “I’m thrilled to be joining a business that’s so strong and well positioned in the North East, where it’s built an enviable reputation for great customer care, being a first-class employer, and supporting local communities.
“My aim is to build on the strong foundations that have been laid, so we can help more people achieve their dream of home ownership and save for the future.”
