Premium Bond - History

History

Premium Bonds were first introduced by Harold Macmillan in his budget of 17 April 1956, with the aim of controlling inflation and to encourage people to save in the period after the war. On 1 November 1956, at a ceremony in front of the Royal Exchange in the City of London, The Lord Mayor of London, Alderman Sir Cuthbert Ackroyd bought the first bond from the Postmaster-General, Dr. Charles Hill for £1. Councillor William Crook, the Mayor of Lytham St Anne’s, bought the second. Premium Bonds were based in St Annes-On-Sea until the late 1990s when they moved to larger buildings in Blackpool.