The boss of the West Bromwich, the Black Country’s biggest building society, today emphatically denied rumours that the business could be taken over – with speculation the firm was vulnerable due to the credit crunch.

Chief executive Stephen Karle insisted today: “We are a 159-year-old business created here in the Black Country and we are here for the long term.

“We have a very strong, profitable business employing some 1,100 people here in West Bromwich, in Dudley and throughout our branch network, and I can give an emphatic ‘no’ to any talk of a takeover.”

The rumours surfaced on the back of news that both the Cheshire and Derbyshire building societies had agreed to be taken over by Nationwide.

Mr Karle said: “Not only are we not in any talks, but we have never spoken to the Nationwide, neither do we intend to, and neither have we talked to any other building society.”

His comments came less than a week after it was revealed that a handful of senior executives at the West Bromwich were being made redundant following a management restructuring.

Stephen Karle said this was all part of keeping the business efficient.