Nicola Scott, branch manager of the Yorkshire Building Society on Union Street. Image - Aberdeen Inspired
Sitting in the heart of Aberdeen at 355 Union Street, the Yorkshire Building Society has been helping people of the Granite City build a better future for themselves for more than half a century.
And not just assisting folk in having a place to call home or managing their money – but also supporting local charities. We caught up with branch manager Nicola Scott to find out more about her great institution, its work and plans for the future.
A warm welcome and good support awaits at the Yorkshire Building Society, says branch manager Nicola Scott.
Tell us about the Yorkshire Building Society.
We’re a mutual building society, so that means we don’t have shareholders and we exist to support our members.
As a society, our purpose is to provide real help with real life. This means we deliver three central ambitions – helping people have a place to call home, helping them towards greater financial well-being and creating long-term value for our members.
Yorkshire Building Society has had a branch in Aberdeen for over 51 years and we continue to serve the community with an easy access, face-to-face service, as well as assisting with any digital queries our customers have.
In addition to our core opening hours, we also open until 7pm every second Thursday evening to allow more flexibility for people to come in to open or manage their accounts.
We are located at what we call the top end of Union Street, next to where the old Bruce Millers was. We also have an agency in Westhill at the shopping centre and in Inverurie next to the town hall.
You can find the Yorkshire Building Society at 355 Union Street. Image - Aberdeen Inspired.
What do you like about being based in the City Centre?
It’s great to be at the heart of the community. We’re close to other shops and restaurants that people use regularly, so that helps with footfall. As everything is one convenient location, we regularly run outreach events and workshops.
Being in the city centre means it’s easy for people to get to us and we can engage with more people in the community.
What are the benefits for you and your business of being an Aberdeen Inspired levy payer?
We really value being able to network and meet with other businesses and people who work in the city centre. We also work with Aberdeen Inspired to promote some of our outreach events for the community, such as fraud and scam awareness sessions, budgeting events and employability and cost-of-living events.
Nicola with the charity noticeboard at the Yorkshire Building Society. Image - Aberdeen Inspired
What are your plans for the next 12 months?
We had lots of activities for UK Savings Week that took place last month. That included opening on Saturday, September 14, so people cold come in and open savings accounts and talk about how they manage their existing savings.
We also ran Mini Money Minds sessions. These are financial education lessons for children where they can learn more about keeping money safe, budgeting and other age-appropriate topics.
Then in November, we’ll be fundraising for our charity partner, FareShare when we will have a raffle to win hampers and we will also have crafts available.
Yorkshire Building Society seems to do a lot to support local charities, including have a special notice board. Tell me about that.
They are local charities to Aberdeen and the Shire. We ask our members to donate the pennies of their interest to our charitable foundation and from that we can apply for local charities around Aberdeen to get the benefit of that. So since 2021 we have donated almost £50,000 to charities in the local area.
When you’re not working where is your favourite place or thing to do in Aberdeen?
I like to take my dog, Leo, to Duthie Park and Hazlehead as well as walks along the old railway line. Also I like going out with friends and family for meals and drink and I enjoy going to the theatre as well.
You can find out more about the Yorkshire Building Society here.