Halifax Building Society

Halifax — brand origin, history, and ownership

Halifax began as the Halifax Building Society, founded in Halifax, West Yorkshire, in 1853. Over time the Halifax name became one of the United Kingdom's largest retail financial brands, offering building society services, mortgages, current accounts and wider retail banking products.

In the early 21st century the Halifax brand was combined with Bank of Scotland to form HBOS; following subsequent industry consolidation the HBOS group became part of Lloyds Banking Group. Today Halifax remains a prominent UK retail banking brand and operates as a trading name under Bank of Scotland plc, itself a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group plc.

Brand and ownership summary:

• Brand origin: Halifax Building Society (Halifax, UK).
• Primary market and operational base: United Kingdom.
• Current ultimate owner (as of the present structure): Lloyds Banking Group plc, a UK-headquartered banking group.

This means Halifax’s historical origin is as a UK building society while its present-day legal and commercial operations are conducted within the Lloyds Banking Group structure via Bank of Scotland plc.