West Bromwich Building Society HQ complete

The firm's new head office, in Providence Place, is one part of the massive regeneration project in West Bromwich.

The new 70,00 sq ft five-storey building, next to the BT regional business centre off the A41 island, will have more than 400 staff working in it.

Company spokesman Nick Trueman said: "I'm very happy to say the construction phase has been completed and we can now focus on moving on to furnishings and getting systems in place.

"Our new head office will represent a modern, efficient and environmentally friendly base from which the business can expand with our people fully equipped to support and serve our membership."

The Black Country's biggest building society's 70,000 sq ft headquarters joins other new buildings that have helped regenerate the town centre in recent years.

Bosses at the West Bromwich had considered relocating to the Point North site at The Waterfront, Brierley Hill, before finally deciding on the move a short distance across the town to the new site close to the £200 million flagship New Square shopping development.

Councillor Mohinder Tagger has previously said he was pleased with the progress of the new building and was 'proud' to home the new HQ in his ward.

The new building will include state-of-the-art ventilation, heating and lighting control systems to minimise energy consumption. It will also house an administration centre offering direct services for West Brom savings accounts, mortgages and investments.

When finished, the company's HQ will replace the current one in the High Street, where it has been based since 1849.

In 2014, the building society announced that it had returned to profit for the first time since it was hit by the credit crunch.

The society, made a pre-tax profit of £2.1 million for the year to the end of March following a loss of £9.1m in 2012/2013. It made a return to the residential lending market and lent £213.6m, up from £19.3m for the previous year.