I'm not 100% sure, but I think that building societies often don't have the facilities for accepting direct transfers, but a lot of what were building societies are now in fact banks.If I get it wired I lose out by a) lots of intermediaries (neither end has direct access)
Not sure what you mean about the lack of direct access. But, if your building society (recipient) isn't equipped for accepting direct money transfers, then you might consider opening a - possibly temporary - account with a bank which *can* accept such transfers. And look for a bank which offers the service to its customers for a flat fee, not for a percentage (I looked at my DH's bank at the time, and they wanted 3%).
I am considering a bankers draft or a cheque sent to me instead.
International Money Order (is that "bankers' draft"?) is, I think, what I got from Bev Walker for a parcel of my 2-Pair booklets (Bev?). Again, the conversion was done at the other end, so it reached me in US dollars, and didn't tax my bank's clerks too much :) You might need to check which bank (issuing or cashing) offers what rate of exchange, and which charges less for the service.
An international money order is a cheque drawn on a bank in the country it is to be cashed in. I receive a few in payment for Threads books, and actually have on in my purse waiting to be paid into the bank tomorrow. The trader who sent it would have gone into her local bank in USA, and paid the necessary number of dollars to receive a cheque for 60GBP. This cheque has Commonwealth Foreign Exchange and a USA address on but also says "Payable at Citibank CRS Account" and a London address. I will pay it into my account in exactly the same way as I'd pay in a regular GBP cheque, and no charges to me, though no doubt there was commission to pay in USA.
A bankers draft is a "cheque" drawn by the bank and is the sort of thing used for house purchase and other very major purchases. It is very difficult to get a bankers draft cancelled unless you can absolutely prove theft. I would be very reluctant myself to send one through international post - even if it is registered/insured.
He will need to know all the details of the Canadian bank account - the account number and holder's name, the bank's sort code (receiving code or whatever it's called in Canada), and of course the amount to be transferred plus the necessary funds in the UK account. There will be some sort of fee, but or a fairly substantial amount of money, IMO it would be worth while.
Oh, and it needs to be a relatively simple method
Either method is simple enough even for a Cambridge don's mind, if you have a quick communications line (e-mail) established, and if you're willing to get all the info gathered at your end (including step-by step instructions to the don as to what questions to ask at his bank)
Brenda http://www.argonet.co.uk/users/paternoster/
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