Nationwide Building Society – Annual Awards

The Project

Nationwide required annual awards show to celebrate their business values and PRIDE:

• Putting members and their money first
• Rising to the challenge
• Inspiring trust
• Doing the right thing in the right way
• Excelling at relationships

The Event

The event was to be the highlight of the year for the company – 350 guests invited to a 5-star location for a night they would never forget. UKSV pitched for the job alongside five other creative agencies to deliver a fabulous experience for this established company.

As the previous year’s event for Nationwide was held at the Celtic Manor, a 5-star luxury hotel in Newport, the location had to rival this – so we chose the Sofitel T5, the luxury hotel situated at Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5.

We proposed a glamorous 1920s gold theme – a sophisticated jazz club as a cool backdrop to the elegant evening. With an 18-piece jazz band (named the Nationwide Pride Orchestra), the theme was a surprise to the guests and was unveiled dramatically. After the drink's reception, all guest walked into a pitch-black room with spotlights on two aerial performers. When all were seated, the spotlights moved to the drummer of the jazz band, and the evening started with some up-tempo jazz pieces before the CEO’s formal introduction.

In the run up to the event, the invitees received a bespoke etched brass invite as a memento of their nomination and on the night, we created a 24-page newspaper, printed overnight, so the guests have something to read the following morning over breakfast.

The Client

Originally founded in 1846, Nationwide Building Society is now the world’s largest building society, one of the UK’s largest savings providers and a top-three provider of mortgages in the UK. It is also a major provider of current accounts, credit cards, ISAs and personal loans. With around 15 million customers, Nationwide has a relationship with almost a quarter of the UK population.