Invitation from Newcastle University to tell your Northern Rock story

Did you have shares in Northern Rock on the day of nationalisation in February 2008??

If so, would you be willing to spend half a day at Newcastle University in discussion with
University researchers and with small groups of other former Northern Rock shareholders
interested in the story you have to tell about how you came to own those shares?

They are especially interested in hearing from shareholders who :

· acquired their shares in consequence of the conversion of the Northern Rock in 1997 from
building society to bank and/or

· are from the North East region and/or

·work or worked for Northern Rock and acquired their shares under one of the employee
share schemes and/or

·acquired shares in Northern Rock for the first time after September 2007 or added to their
existing shareholding after that time….



Please be assured that complete confidentiality and anonymity is guaranteed by the research
team and that they are interested in simply understanding better and at a deeper level the
motivations of small Northern Rock shareholders (especially local ones) to become and
remain shareholders in the bank. Any ideas and information generated in these discussions
will be used solely for academic purposes and any data collected will be kept secure and
encrypted within the University.

If you are willing to participate in this research study or you know someone else who is
please contact us Newcastle University and let them have your contact details.

Contact by email : joanna.gray@newcastle.ac.uk

or writing to Professor Joanna Gray, Professor of Financial Regulation, Newcastle Law
School, Newcastle University, 21 – 24 Windsor Terrace, Jesmond, Newcastle upon Tyne,
NE1 7RU

telephone: Mrs Joanne Pinnock or Mrs Gemma Hayton on 0191 222 8736

Newcastle University study on Northern Rock

Newcsatle University is looking for volunteers to help with a research project into the nature and composition of the shareholding base of Northern Rock as at February 2008. They would like to gather together small focus groups drawn from individuals who were small shareholders in Northern Rock at the time of nationalisation to explore how and why they became shareholders in the bank and also what their understanding of the nature of the shares they held actually was as well as what expectations they had (if any) of the role of financial regulation and the FSA in the time leading up to the run and the nationalisation. A Law Professor will be working on this project with colleagues based in the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies at thed University and also with a visiting academic from the University of Chicago who is an anthropologist by background but interested in the North East region and the effects that the events at Northern Rock have had on the region.

A fuller explanation is being obtained, inluding contact details, and will be posted as soon as possible.