Woolwich Building Society

Woolwich PLC

Type	Public limited company
Industry	Financial Services
Fate	Merged with parent
Founded	1847
Headquarters	London, United Kingdom
Products	Mortgages
Parent	Barclays
Website	Barclays Group Archives: The Woolwich

The Woolwich Equitable Building Society (later Woolwich Building Society or The Woolwich) was a United Kingdom financial institution owned by its members as a mutual organization. In 1997 it demutualised and became Woolwich PLC. The company was listed on the . It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was acquired by Barclays in 2000.

The Society was founded in Woolwich in 1847 as the Woolwich Equitable Benefit Building and Investment Association, one of the first permanent building societies. Previously it had been active as a temporary society since 1842. Its establishment constituted an important stage in the history of mutualism in Woolwich (see: Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society).

The Woolwich was one of the largest UK building societies and was famous in the 1980s for its entertaining TV advertising incorporating the slogan "I'm with the Woolwich".

From 1984 to 1992, The Woolwich sponsored Charlton Athletic F.C. at a time that included their departure from the outdated Valley stadium in September 1985 (they returned in December 1992, by which time the stadium had been rebuilt) and the club's promotion to the Football League First Division the following May, continuing for two years after the relegation in 1990.

The Woolwich Equitable Building Society demutualised in 1997, giving up its mutual status to become a bank: Woolwich PLC was formed, giving to investing and borrowing members of the society, and listing on the .

In August 2000, Barclays took over Woolwich PLC in a £5.4bn acquisition. Woolwich PLC thus joined the Barclays Bank Group of companies. The Woolwich brand-name was retained after the acquisition, and the Woolwich head office remained in Bexleyheath, south-east London, 4.5 mi from the original office in Woolwich.

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