National Counties Building Society

National Counties (or NCBS) are a long-established but small Building Society, with a very large capital base (£93m I think). Their investment accounts are conducted largely by post (the Society only has one small branch in Epsom, Surrey) whilst mortgage business is all administered at their Head Office - also in Epsom, Surrey.
NCBS offers quite a wide variety of investment accounts, although almost all of them have a reasonably high minimum opening balance - I think the lowest is £500 on the Direct Access Share Accounts, although there are concessions for investors living within the Epsom area. The interest offered on all their accounts is quite poor; to achieve a good rate you have to have a very high balance, as the interest rates are on a 'tiered' system - in other words, the higher your balance, the higher your interest rate will be.
The staff seem reasonably knowledgeable about the Society business; all enquries are dealt with promptly, although not always effectively. Being a small Society in terms of staff levels, they are able to give a more personal level of customer service which, in this day and age, is quite refreshing.
The Society seems to be fairly competitive as far as mortgages go; they do offer some good products but, due to their financial size, seem to be frequently overshadowed by the likes of the Nationwide Building Society.
My personal advice, as uneducated as it is, is to 'shop around' for the best deal - be it for a mortgage or an investment. To be honest, NCBS will suit those whose desire for a 'personal' service from their account exceeds the desire for a higher interest rate - which, in the current economic climate, is probably quite rare. My business is with the Nationwide - where it will stay.