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Coventry Building Society

Engaged employer

Poisonous Company and culture - Administrative Coventry Building Society Employee Review

1.0
8 July 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

None, not even the fruit makes the place any good

Cons

So, CBS, are you going to recognise that you now have an issue with your culture, with your management style, with the Severn Trent people who have infiltrated the place over the last number of years who have no clue how to work in a Building Society? Are you going to acknowledge you have no issues whatsoever and instead give me a generic HR reply saying "Thanks for your response"? I saw your reply to an employee a few months back who asked you not to respond because of how badly they had suffered with their mental health and what did you do? Did you respect their request and not respond? No, in your arrogance for thinking you know best, you responded. How disrespectful is that to still respond to someone who asked you not to. I genuinely hope that person didn't get even further affected after getting a response, I hope you can live with yourselves if it is discovered that you set that person back even further. This is the arrogance and superiority that you now operate with, that you know best. This is why you now have this issue that you won't recognise because you arrogantly believe it is all because of 'change', not that you have incompetant leaders, that the culture is so toxic, people are suffering mental health and physical health issues and are going off sick or are voluntarily taking redundancy to get away from you. You should feel shame perpetuating a lie that CBS still have values for its members when its staff are so badly treated. I say the term members but the CEO, having taken his £2.2 million pay packet this year, clearly wants to be a bank and doesn't care about the people who still choose to 'bank' with CBS. All he wants is the prestige of being a bank and getting as much money out of it as possible and woe betide the people who lose their jobs along the way. Shame on you, CBS, for failing your staff, for forgetting why you exist in the first place, for failing your members even though they aren't aware of the failures and for creating such a terrible environment. For not respecting the mutual values that created you back in the 19th century

Explore other reviews about Coventry Building Society

4.0
18 May 2020
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Interesting projects to work on

Cons

Minimal benefits for 401k and insurance

2
2.0
27 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Good Team and Team manager to support. Good Head Office Facilities. Can be flexible depending on your role…

Cons

Company has completely lost its identity since Co-op Merger. Bringing in Senior Leaders and Directors to support with the merger, who do not share the existing Values of the company is completely shocking. Everything CBS has stood for previously is being washed away for ‘Growth’. Senior Directors telling teams ‘Good is good enough’ and actively planning to make certain processes WORSE to make it easier for the Co-op to catch up to our standards, and this is okay? Soon as the merger is completed from the Directors points of view, they’ll move onto their next project and we will be their picking up the pieces in regards to moulding the company back to what it was prior to the merger. Pay is shocking. Front line teams being expected to pick up more work, in expanding roles with expanding responsibilities for LESS pay? Removing certain Teams Shift allowances; reducing their pay by 10%, then at the same time releasing their new role profiles which state team members must remain flexible to work ‘all group working hours’?? What a fantastic, sneaky way to be able to save money. Really caring. It’s a shame certain Execs got lucrative bonuses for their expanding roles, yet the people that make the business tick get pay taken off them because they have no say.

12
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Coventry Building Society Response
1mo
Thank you for sharing this — and for your 8–10 years with us. It’s good to hear how much you value your team and manager, but it’s clear you’re frustrated and concerned about the direction of the organisation, particularly following the merger. We recognise the strength of feeling in your comments around maintaining our values, changes to ways of working, and the impact on pay and frontline teams. Those points — especially around fairness, workload, and consistency — are important and shouldn’t be overlooked. Your feedback reflects concerns we need to take seriously as we continue through this period of change. Thank you for taking the time to be open about your experience.
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