I once gave away more money than Andrew Carnegie or Bill Gates. Ten years ago, as a director of the Halifax Building Society I authorised the distribution of almost £20bn to its 8m members on flotation of the business. Last week, the story reached a sad denouement and much of the windfall slipped away. The organisation, now part of HBOS, agreed to a rescue bid from Lloyds TSB.

The business I joined gathered deposits from small savers, mostly through its branches. It lent the proceeds to house buyers. Founded as a self-help organisation by provident Yorkshire folk 150 years ago, the Halifax became the world’s largest mortgage lender. Its quality of service and competitive interest rates trounced conventional banks in the UK retail savings market. The simple business model was very robust. In the early 1990s, a combination of high interest rates, recession and falling house prices posed much more serious problems for UK homeowners than anything seen, or likely, in the current credit crunch. But the Halifax remained profitable and mortgages readily available.