He says: “After about 20 years my accountant said to me, ‘You’re showing an pounds 11,000 loss.’ But it is my hobby. Some people spend that on smoking or chasing women.”Mr Jones’s first big coup was backing the 1982 production of Michael Frayn’s Noises Off, which ran for four-and-a-half years at London’s Savoy Theatre. THE show Cats, conceived by Andrew Lloyd Webber, racked up its 6,318th performance last week to become the world’s longest-running musical. That is good news for Eddie Jones, a retired London bookmaker who put pounds 750 into the show when it opened in 1981. So far that investment has netted him profits of nearly pounds 20,000. Mr Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group raised all the initial pounds 450,000 capital for the musical from small investors, most of whom bought units worth pounds 750.
Mr Jones, 75, has been a theatrical “angel” for 35 years, putting small sums into shows such as Les Miserables, Miss Saigon and Phantom of the Opera. Alliance & Leicester employees and pensioners will also qualify.Who doesn’t get the shares?2 million holders of other accounts and financial products including: Giro Current; Keyway; Alliance; Flexiplan Plus; Flexiplan; Tessa Deposit; Prime 90 Deposit; Prime Deposit; Offshore accounts (90 Day, Instant Access, Island); Visa credit cards; unsecured personal loans.Also excluded are the thousands of people who opened accounts or took out mortgages this year; people who open accounts from now; those under the age of 18 at the voting date who hold accounts directly; and second- named accountholders..

So instead of trying to spot the next, savers with spare cash should simply try to open accounts with as many of the remaining societies as possible. This, however, is becoming more difficult, as societies try to deter speculators by raising minimum opening balances and closing qualifying accounts.Who gets the shares?2.5 million savers with the following accounts open on 31 December 1995:Bonus 180; Bonus 90; Bonus Share; Capital Choice; CashPlus; Extra Interest Share; Fixed Rate Bond (1 and 2 Year); Gold; Gold Plus; Gross Interest; Hambros; High Income Term Share; High Yield Term Share; Instant Access (Card); Instant Access (Passbook); Investment Bond; Investment Plus; Keysaver; Leicestercard Gold; Leicestercard 3 Year Bond; Midas; MoneyMonthly Term Share; MoneyBuilder Plus; MoneyReady; Monthly Income Bond; Monthly Income Investment Bond (3 Year); Monthly Income Option Bond (3/5 Year); Ninety Day; Option Bond (3/5 Year); Premier; Premium Plus; Prime Plus; ReadyMoney Plus; Regular Savings; Save-As-You-Earn (SAYE); Seven/7 Day; Share; Sharesave; Special Edition; Special Return; Step-Up Bond; Step-Up Bond Issue 2; Stock Market Bond; Tempus; TESSA.To qualify, savers must be the first-named accountholder and must have at least pounds 100 in total in any number of accounts at the qualifying date, 56 days before the voting date (probably late this year, but yet to be finalised).500,000 mortgage borrowers (those who are savers as well will get two sets of shares) with at least pounds 100 of mortgage debt owing on 31 December 1995 and on the voting date.The plan is that the entitlement of people who die before getting their shares will pass to their beneficiaries. In each case the savers and borrowers of any society that was bought would stand to receive a windfall.Looking forward over the next few years it is almost certain there will be more rationalisation among societies.The only real question is which will go. But it seems more committed to remaining a building society and will announce rate improvements for savers and borrowers in the spring as part of a loyalty bonus.A number of societies remain takeover targets, however. The A&L might even take over a society before its own share handout, allowing customers of the swallowed society effectively to join in the A&L share deal.One potential takeover target, Bristol & West, said last week it continued to review its position and does not rule out coming up with a windfall deal, while the Woolwich is reported to be interested in buying the Britannia. The Nationwide is the only remaining society that analysts consider big enough to become a bank on its own. The vote is planned for later this year, to be followed by the share handout early next year.Q: Who is next?A: Some analysts think this may be the last windfall announcement for some time.

Five of the biggest building societies have now declared in recent times – Halifax and Leeds (which merged), Woolwich, Alliance & Leicester, National & Provincial, and Cheltenham & Gloucester. This will be sent to members, along with an invitation to vote on the proposals. You do not have to do anything for now, although it might be advisable for savers to ensure their savings total pounds 100 with the society.The Alliance & Leicester expects to publish details of the share distribution later this year. For windfall watchers, shares worth at least pounds 500 would make it a fairly standard deal.

And for those who have qualified with balances of just pounds 100, that is a fabulous investment return.However, the Alliance & Leicester deal excludes a greater proportion of its customers – 2 million out of 5 million – than any other of the big deals announced to date. This is because it owns Girobank, whose customers are not members of the society and do not qualify. Girobank operates through post offices and issues giro cheques to millions of social security claimants.Q: What happens next?A: Letters went out last week from the Alliance & Leicester to customers explaining its proposed changes and enclosing a leaflet called Alliance & Leicester conversion: some questions answered There is also a helpline on 0345 221144. It claims the number of people who might have hoped for windfalls but have been excluded is “minimal”, but this may still run into thousands. In December the society stemmed the speculative tide by closing its instant access account and requiring new savers to put in pounds 5,000 (pounds 1,000 for a Tessa) to open an account. It followed this, after the Woolwich windfall announcement last month, by barring the opening of new accounts carrying “share” status – those that carry voting and membership rights and therefore are most likely to qualify for windfalls.Q: How does this deal compare with others?A: It’s quicker, inasmuch as you should get your shares sooner than those from the Halifax and Woolwich building societies – the Halifax is pencilled in for summer 1997 and the Woolwich for autumn 1997.The Alliance & Leicester deal is not as lucrative as when the Cheltenham & Gloucester building society was taken over by Lloyds Bank – when savers were paid an average of pounds 2,200 in cash.Since we do not yet know the details of the share allocation, it is difficult to make a full comparison with the other share deals – but on average they are all likely to be worth pounds 800 or so. Cynics might say the society is delaying coming clean so that it can keep savers locked into poor interest rates.What the society has said so far is simply that to qualify, your total savings balance, 56 days before the voting date, must be more than pounds 100, or your mortgage debt must have been pounds 100 last 31 December and still be so on the voting date.Q: What about “carpetbaggers”?A: When the Woolwich announced its switch to bank status last month, its chief executive, Peter Robinson, almost seemed to relish excluding people who had opened accounts this year from the windfall, dubbing them “carpetbaggers”.Alliance & Leicester has also excluded people who opened accounts this year.