Nationwide gives rebels the slip

MUTUAL Nationwide has again evaded attempts by disgruntled members to shake-up its activities.

The group said two rebel members had failed to win election to its board. Tim Tanner and Alan Debenham both wanted the society to remain a mutual but had called for it to be more accountable to members.

Tanner, who stood for election last year and has also tried to get on to the boards of the Portman and Coventry Building Societies, got 273,847 votes, while Debenham, who was standing for the fifth year running, got 293,410.

This was less than half the votes received by the six candidates who were backed by the board, who all got around 700,000 votes each.

The society released the results ahead of Thursday's annual general meeting, when members can vote on directors' pay for the first time, although as a mutual Nationwide is not required to put the issue to the vote.

Members are expected to complain about the package of former group finance director Alistair Dales who retired in April. He was one of only two directors at the society on a two-year contract, which triggered a £889,000 pay-off when he left.

The pay-off, together with his £301,000 salary, £212,000 in performance-related bonuses and £15,000 in benefits, meant he received a total of £1.4m for the year compared with £511,000 for the previous 12 months.