Phil Howcroft

29 July 2010 | By Gregor Watt

The Oddfellows Friendly Society chief executive Phil Howcroft says the society’s ethos of helping people is now perhaps better known than the name of the mutual society itself.

What was once the biggest mutual society in Britain, with a history that goes back hundreds of years, and which was at one point outlawed by government, which feared its influence, has declined in the public’s awareness in the last half a century. But despite not having the influence and recognition that it once had, Howcroft says the organisation is determined to continue to help shape the welfare system in the UK.

The origins of The Oddfellows date back to the 14th Century when tradesmen who fell outside the established system of trade guilds banded together to form their own societies to meet the welfare needs of their members.

The modern Oddfellows is not quite that old but can trace its origins back to 1810 and celebrates its bicentenary this year. It has a long and proud history and in its time has played a role in the foundation of the basic state pension in 1911 and in the establishment of the National Health Service in 1945.

Before the foundation of the modern welfare state, benefits were provided by mutual societies and it this experience that the reforming governments wanted to tap into.

Howcroft says: “Pre-1948, if you wanted support from a doctor and dentist, any medical help, if you wanted to ensure that members of your family could be buried, then you did have to be a member of a friendly society.”

By the second half of the 19th Century, The Oddfellows had become the biggest mutual society in the UK and Howcroft says its experience had given it consid-erable influence. “In 1870, we were consulted over early plans for a pension scheme. In 1911, Lloyd George used our mortality tables to calculate the benefit contributions for the National Insurance tables and in 1948 when Beveridge was looking to slay his five giants, we were again consulted and a lot of our key branch secretaries and other adminis-trators went across into the welfare state.”

Howcroft joined the organisation in 1988. After studying to be a chemist, he moved into accountancy and worked as a chartered accountant and says his decision to join The Oddfellows was a combination of happy coincidences. Despite not intending to stay long, he has now been with the society for 22 years and has been chief executive since 2000. “I’m a lucky fella,” he says simply.

His promotion to chief executive came in part due to recognition of the role he played reforming the society. In 1996, the society conducted a full review of its business and changed the emphasis of the way it was run. As the traditional benefit services role of mutuals and friendly societies had been eroded by the expansion of the welfare state, Howcroft says the organisation was slightly confused about what its role was.
“We undertook a strategic review in 1996 and we didn’t know then whether we wanted to continue to focus on traditional friendly society insurance business, of tax-exempt savings policies, for example, child trust funds, long-term annuities and sickness benefits, etc, or concentrate on our branches.”

It concluded that the way forward was to move away from financial services and concentrate on the provision of social care and advice.

The society does still have a substantial life and pension book but it is run as a closed book. Its core services now include some insurance, such as dental and optical care, but it specialises in the provision of general advice and social care. Although Howcroft remains convinced that the provision of social care is the way forward for the society, he is keen to help drive the reform of the current financial system for the provision of retirement benefits.

The Oddfellows has just announced the sponsorship of a new thinktank looking at the current arguments for retirement reform. The Centre for Retirement Reform has been set up to bring together the wide variety of research on pensions and to help drive forward the agenda for change.

Howcroft says the decision to sponsor the CRR has a neat symmetry with the influence that The Oddfellows had on the basic state pension almost 100 years ago.

The CRR has three main objectives - increasing the basic state pension age to 70, replacing the current state pension system with a single pension paid at above the current level of means testing and introducing new long-term savings product to replace the current private pension system.

Howcroft says: “We think there needs to be an increase in the retirement age now to make sure an individual has the funds that will support them in retire-ment and we are looking for a simplifi-cation of the system and we are also looking for the benefit to be meaningful - £96.75 basic state pension is very difficult to survive on.” As Howcroft says, the aims are “Exactly the same as 1911”.

And Howcroft also sees opportunities in the RDR.

One of the key services that The Oddfellows offer its members is the provision of an advice service which offers help with everything from basic legal advice to help with benefits and consumer rights.

Part of this service is advice on how to manage the retirement process, including a focus on the significant lifestyle changes that many people encounter when they retire and Howarth suggests that the white labelling of such a service for IFAs would not only prove a useful service to some clients but could also provide a cost effective way for IFAs to demonstrate that they are providing ongoing services to their clients which could keep the FSA or regulator happy after 2012.

He says: “It could help with what comes out of the RDR. It could really help in terms of consistency and keeping in contact with their clients.”
The Oddfellows has a long and fascinating history but Howarth is definitely concentrating on its future.

Born: Oldham, Lancashire
Lives: Bury, Lancashire
Education: Chemistry and biochemistry, Bsc.Hons, University of Salford, Fellow of Chartered Association of Certified Accountants, Certified Director, IOD
Career: 2000-present: chief executive, The Oddfellows; 1988-1999: branch support manager, The Oddfellows; 1981-1988: chartered accountant.
Likes: Golf, football, holidays
Dislikes: Lack of ambition
Drives: Audi A4
Book: Tom Clancy novels
Film: Goldfinger
Album: Strange times - The Chameleons
Career ambition: Chartered Director status - to support our members in any of their care and welfare needs
Life ambition: To see my son grow up and make a success of his life
If I wasn’t doing this, I would be…A scientist

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