Swindon-based Nationwide, the UK's largest building society, has benefited from being seen as a haven from the credit crunch, according to a BBC report. It said that savings deposits in the six months to the end of September had nearly doubled to £4.1bn. That was partly as a result of the purchase of its smaller rival Portman, which was completed in September, but Nationwide's chief executive Graham Beale said: “There's no doubt we've seen a flight to quality as savers seek a safe haven.”

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