Founded as the Halifax Permanent Benefit Building and Investment Society in 1853, Halifax grew to become the UK's largest building society. In 1997, it demutualised to become Halifax plc, a public limited company. Following a series of mergers, including the formation of HBOS (Halifax Bank of Scotland) in 2001, the company became part of Lloyds Banking Group in 2009. Today, Halifax operates as a prominent high-street bank in the UK, providing services such as current and savings accounts, mortgages, loans, credit cards, insurance, and investment products to millions of individuals and families.