Summary
The catalyst for Nationwide establishing an archive service was the appointment of a new Chief Executive in 2016.
“Our building society has an extraordinary past. Nationwide was born of a social purpose and the belief that people can achieve more together than alone. After a year as Chief Executive, I am more convinced than ever that Nationwide’s mutual purpose remains as relevant today as it was when we were founded 130 years ago.”
Joe Garner, Chief Executive, 2017 Annual Report
Even with this strong executive-level understanding of the importance of the history of the organisation, Nationwide’s first ever archivist had to work hard to develop the service. This included the practical aspects of bringing the collections together, as well as working with colleagues across the business to explicitly demonstrate how the organisation’s history and heritage could contribute positively to its current work and activities. Doing so helped to embed the archive service within the company as an asset. It has also helped the service to succeed in becoming an accredited archive service under the Archive Service Accreditation scheme in just six years.
Challenges and opportunities
The history of Nationwide is a long, complex story of the acquisition and mergers of around 250 different building societies. In 2016, the appointment of Joe Garner as the new Chief Executive of Nationwide signalled a shift in the organisation’s strategy. In his previous role at HSBC, he had been aware of how that organisation’s history and heritage supported the business, and one of his first decisions on joining Nationwide was to appoint its first-ever archivist.
The new Head of Historical Archives, Sara Kinsey, arrived in October 2016 and discovered that the majority of the archive collections had been deposited in the basement of the former Anglia Building Society offices in Northampton. Moving these collections to Swindon – where Nationwide is headquartered – was the initial priority for two practical reasons. Firstly, having the archives in Swindon would make them visible, especially to senior executives. Secondly, she needed good access to the collections to be able to research, and then to share, the story of Nationwide’s history.
The research proved to be critical. Just a few months later, in January 2017, the CEO used the archives to tell the story of how Nationwide had begun and developed at a week-long event at the NEC in Birmingham attended by all 14,000 staff. His script had been researched and written by Sara and was a key piece of employee engagement used to build pride in Nationwide.
The company’s archives were also prominent in the ‘Building the Building Society‘ advertising campaign which featured a poem written and performed by Jo Bell. This focused on Nationwide’s foundation and enduring values rather than on a product. A second advert and campaign, ‘Mortgage Number One‘, used a new poem written and performed by Jo Bell. This was based on research on Nationwide’s first mortgage holder, which Sara had provided after consulting relevant records. Both the campaigns underlined the links between Nationwide’s past and present, and both scored highly in metrics used to measure advertising effectiveness.
Since the archive service was created, the need to develop a timeline of key dates for the organisation had been obvious. This was needed on both a national and a local level. For example, information was needed on a change in organisation name, but also the dates of the opening of individual branches. In a similar vein, the digitisation of images was undertaken whenever time and opportunity allowed, with an estimated 1,000 images scanned in the first two years of the archive service’s existence.
Working closely with the marketing team led to a physical timeline of key milestones being produced and displayed prominently in the Head Office. The branch network was also undergoing a design transformation as the archive developed, and elements of Nationwide’s history, such as old adverts, were introduced in the new design. An internal campaign, ‘Stash in the Attic’, encouraged staff across the organisation to look in cupboards, basements and attics for any historical material. This resulted in further material being added to the archive collection and continued engagement with employees.
Some preliminary sorting of the material had been possible ahead of the move to Swindon and meant that the archives now featured in visits and tours for Nationwide staff and guests. Throughout this time, the core team consisted of the archivist, who was joined by an assistant to provide extra capacity. After the move to Swindon, a small team of employees also volunteered to help with repackaging, research and indexing during lunchtime sessions.
Have Something Solid Behind You’ advertisement, 1951. Image courtesy of Nationwide Historical Archives.
Outcomes
Nationwide’s archive service is very much business focused. It provides an internal information and enquiry service, and a regular schedule of tours and induction sessions. It supports a branch birthday programme and an engagement programme. The collection is also open to external users, and academic collaborations are in the pipeline.
Reviewing the collections after the initial stages of work had identified that there was a gap in terms of records about employees and very few personal records such as diaries. Recognising that Nationwide’s Head Office had brought individuals from across the world to live and work in Swindon, the archive service was keen to capture and retell some of these stories.
They collaborated with Create Studios, who are filmmakers and storytellers, utilising funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded in 2019. This resulted in the ‘See Me Nationwide’ project, which was carried out between 2020 and 2022 and was highlighted in The National Archives ‘A Year in Archives 2022’.
“I’m grateful that you’ve given me an outlet for my voice”
‘See Me Nationwide’ participant
What was learned from the process?
The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 provided time for review and reflection as to what tasks remained to be done within the service, just over three years into its development. The structure and framework of the Archive Service Accreditation scheme served as an effective means to identify and then address gaps in the service, including the policies, plans and other documentation that were needed.
After a formal application to the scheme, Nationwide became accredited in November 2022, providing external validation and recognition of the journey that had been made to establish and develop the archive service.
“The Panel commended the achievement of the archive service since its foundation in 2016. The progress is very impressive and has set the archive on a strong footing to support the company for the future.”
Archive Service Accreditation Panel Narrative for Nationwide’s archive service, 2022
The detailed feedback from Archive Service Accreditation assessors also means the archive service has clearly identified areas for further development.
Key advice
For Nationwide’s archivist, moving the collections closer to Head Office was key to engaging and then converting senior managers into advocates for the service.
Whilst collections management is a necessary priority, especially at the outset of establishing an archive service within a business, engagement opportunities are also important. Indeed, engagement can sometimes be the way to unlock funds to help with collections management work. At Nationwide, for instance, Sara’s involvement with the advertising campaigns meant that she was able to access funds to pay for an external conservator to repair and rebind the items that would be used in the adverts.
Judicious digitisation of key records, including photographs, can also be helpful during the early development of an archive service. For example, many of the enquiries received by Sara, especially from within the business, focus on asking for good images to use in publications, social media posts and films. Having an easily accessible digital image library has helped to answer these kinds of queries quickly, and the use of the archive service’s images raises its profile and demonstrates its value to the business.
Colleagues within a business also often look for stories that can say something about the organisation: for example, the story behind the introduction of a new and innovative technology, or a story that shows the impact of the business within wider contexts. Having a bank of such stories to draw-upon, and add to, means that the archive service can further contribute to marketing, communications, and even strategy within the business.
The development of Nationwide’s archive, and its place within the business, has benefitted from the archivist being ready to make the most of opportunities to get involved in big projects and campaigns. The benefit of doing this – even if it can be a challenging new experience – is the exposure both the archivist and the collections gain with senior colleagues. These colleagues, Sara notes, can then become champions for the service and the collections, having had direct experience of how archives and the archive service contribute to the business in positive ways.
How will this work be developed in the future?
Looking ahead, several areas of work are being prioritised. For example, there is a need to finish the cataloguing of the collections. Another key challenge is to preserve the growing body of born-digital files currently being stored on a secure server as an interim measure: a digital preservation system is needed to safeguard the material for the long-term and make it accessible. These initiatives are currently being worked on as part of the technology transformation that Nationwide has recently begun in its Marketing and Engagement functions.
Find out more
Contact Historical.archives@nationwide.co.uk
Relevant resources
Archives and Records Association’s Resilience Indicator (PDF, 152 KB)
A Year In Archives is an annual publication that celebrates the work of archives
The Baring Archive’s Digitisation Selection Model (PDF, 151 KB)