Barclays Woolwich Mortgages

Barclays Woolwich – a history

Established in 1847, as one of the pioneers in permanent building societies, The Woolwich gained increasing popularity over the next few decades. The transformation into Woolwich Bank, was the next prominent milestone, with the demutualisation of The Woolwich Equitable Building Society in 1997. Prospective investors were invited to purchase shares on the London Stock Exchange, of the newly christened Woolwich PLC.

What followed 3 years later, was a near 5.5 billion dollar acquisition of the concern by Barclays group of companies; a goliath in the field of banking whose origins can be traced to the early 18th century and whose noteworthy contributions include launching the first credit card ever in the UK, as well as the world’s first Automatic Teller Machine(ATM).

Knowing the cult popularity of The Woolwich name amongst existing clients, the trademark and brand name were initially left untouched. In the years to come, the Barclays group would merely rebrand it as “Woolwich – mortgages from Barclays”, again retaining the Woolwich brand.

The Woolwich is currently headquartered in Bexleyheath, south-east London; prior to the acquisition, the headquarters were a few miles away in the Woolwich district itself.

Barclays (Woolwich) underwriting

Throughout the trading year, Barclays (Woolwich) move rates up and down to control demand. They have the financial clout to chase market share through competitive mortgage pricing when it suits, and this is typically when we use Barclays (Woolwich) for our clients.

There are a number of underwriting advantages for our clients with Barclays (Woolwich) for example they are more flexible than most when underwriting Limited Company Directors.