Sarah Harrison CB MBE took up the role of Building Societies Association (BSA) chief executive in December 2025. She previously worked in the civil service, as chief operating officer for the Cabinet Office from 2020-2025. Prior to that, she worked in the regulatory and public relations industries, with a number of higher-profile appointments. She has had senior roles at organisations including Ofgem, the Gambling Commission and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.
What has been your journey to BSA CEO, and what are your impressions of the mutual model?
Much of my career has been spent at the point where public purpose, regulation and people’s everyday lives come together, and that is what drew me to the BSA. What has struck me most is the strength and continuing relevance of the mutual model. Building societies and credit unions were created because people had needs the market was not meeting. That founding idea feels very modern. At a time when people are worried about housing, savings, resilience and trust, customer-owned finance has something powerful to offer. For me, the model is not nostalgic; it is future-facing, rooted in people, place and long-term value.
What is your vision for the BSA?
My vision is for the BSA to be a strong, confident and practical voice for customer-owned finance. Our strategy, Finance for a Fairer Future, is about growing the reach and impact of building societies and credit unions so they can help more people own homes, build financial resilience and access trusted, human-centred financial services.
Related: Mutual model can help tackle growing financial insecurity, says BSA
That means influencing policy and regulation so the sector has the right conditions to grow; making customer ownership better understood and translating it into benefits people recognise; and helping members collaborate in areas such as technology, cyber, skills and shared capability. It also means addressing the challenge of raising capital across the mutual and co-operative sector. This is not growth for growth’s sake. It is about helping more people and communities benefit from institutions run in their interests, not for external shareholders.
What does a typical day look like?
There probably is no typical day, and that is part of the joy of the job. One day I might be speaking to building society or credit union leaders about their opportunities, challenges and how the BSA can support them. We are a people-and-place sector, so I have spent much of my first year travelling around the UK to meet members.
The next day I might be meeting ministers, officials, regulators or partners to make the case for a stronger mutual sector. What connects it all is a practical question: how do we help members do more for the people and places they serve? That keeps the job energising.
The sector has huge goodwill, deep expertise and a real appetite to progress and grow. My job is to help turn that shared purpose into pace, focus and impact, including supporting the government’s commitment to double the size of the mutual and co-operative sector.
How do building societies fit with credit unions and other member-owned organisations?
Building societies, credit unions and other member-owned organisations are part of the same broad family: organisations built around people helping people. They play different but complementary roles. Building societies bring scale, savings strength, housing finance and deep roots in towns and regions. Credit unions bring reach into communities and groups that may be less well served by mainstream finance, with a strong focus on responsible credit, payroll savings and inclusion. The opportunity is to recognise that difference and complementarity, and to speak with shared confidence about what customer ownership can do.
How are building societies vital to the UK economic landscape?
Building societies are vital because they combine financial strength with social purpose. They help people save, with customers receiving around £2.1bn more in savings interest from building societies in 2025 than they would have received at the average rate paid by banks. They help people build and buy homes, particularly first-time buyers, with nearly half of building society lending going to them.
Related: Finance mutuals invited to seek scale-up support from UK regulators
Building societies and credit unions also help people build financial resilience and gain financial security. They maintain a strong presence in communities, with one in three UK branches belonging to BSA members. Because they are customer-owned, value is reinvested for the long term rather than paid out to external shareholders. They also bring diversity and competition to UK financial services, something recognised by regulators.
A healthy economy needs different types of institutions, ownership models and ways of serving customers. Building societies show that finance can be commercially strong and socially useful at the same time.
What are the biggest industry challenges facing the BSA?
There are big challenges, but also big opportunities. First, the legal and regulatory framework needs to be fit for the modern era. Rules designed around shareholder-owned banks can sometimes make it harder for mutuals to grow, innovate and serve more people.
Second, the sector needs to keep evolving its propositions as people’s financial lives become more complex, from housing affordability and later-life needs to savings, resilience and digital inclusion. Third, we need to make customer ownership better understood. Many people like the idea of organisations acting in their interests, but do not always connect that with building societies and credit unions. Finally, we need collaboration at a new level. In technology, data, AI, cyber and skills, there are things the sector can do better together than any one organisation can do alone.
What lessons from the co-operative roots of building societies are most relevant for today’s financial landscape?
The biggest lesson is simple: finance works best when it starts with real human need. The first building societies were formed because working people could not afford homes through the market at the time.
Credit unions grew from a similar impulse: people pooling resources to support those excluded or underserved by the mainstream market. That lesson is hugely relevant today. People still need institutions they can trust, especially when financial choices are becoming more complex and technology is changing how decisions are made.
The co-operative roots of the sector remind us that finance should be relational, not extractive. It should help people build security, confidence and opportunity. That is why I believe this can be a mutual moment. But we have to earn it, by modernising, collaborating and showing, in practical ways, that customer-owned finance can help build a fairer future.
Click here for more Meet…. interviews from the world’s co-ops and mutuals
