Will The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. encounter problems if the UK has a recession?
Although we are not immune from the economic situation, our performance shows that as a business, we are achieving steady growth. We are also investing in our business, to ensure that we are able to provide products to our customers and members that are absolutely in line with our co-operative principles of value, fairness and social responsibility. We’re confident that this will help our business grow further still. I have a mortgage with The Co-operative Bank p.l.c. Is what happened to Northern Rock or HBOS likely to happen to you? No. A crucial difference between ourselves and many of our competitors is that we are not reliant on the financial markets in order to lend to customers. Our lending is fully funded by customer deposits, leaving us a good deal less exposed to the vagaries of the market than many of the major lenders. The HBOS situation in particular highlights the risks to businesses whose shares are traded on the stock market, where they can become exposed to speculators.
