A building society which is bucking national trends to open more high street branches has posted rising income and profits amid a year of “hard work and challenge”.
Newcastle Building Society has posted financial results for 2019 in which it said operating profit increased by 11% to £16.3m, while total operating income grew by 16% to top £74.9m.
It also saw 12% net growth in customers, welcoming an additional 40,000, and saw gross mortgage lending of £931m, a 79% increase over 2018.
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The net increase in customer loans and advances was £523m overall in 2019 and included a £575m net increase in core residential, of which £94m was in buy to let.
Its multimillion-pound branch investment programme also continued, with the addition of new branch locations in Barnard Castle and Bishop Auckland, County Durham.
Two new community branches were also opened in Wooler, Northumberland, and Hawes in North Yorkshire – both of which had been left with no local branch access following the departure of the last bank in town.
Three years ago the building society launched a programme to refurbish or relocate its entire branch network and, last year, it completed 10 additional branch launches. Overall, the society now has 31 branches - and chief executive Andrew Haigh said it would look to open more in the coming year.
He said: “If you look at the results they are very positive, a very robust set of results and it’s about really keeping to a very consistent delivery of a purpose-led strategy that’s building on serving communities in the North East, Yorkshire and Cumbria. Everything we do in every way, communities are at the heart of the business.
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“By keeping true to that, people are continuing to support us and we are seeing growth in the organisation – 40,000 new customers and net growth of 12%. To me, that shows this approach is valued by our members.”
Some branch refrubishments have seen the creation of community space which voluntary groups are welcome to use for anything from language lessons to knitting groups, placing the branches at the heart of communities.
Mr Haigh said the society is currently in talks with North Tyneside Council to create a community branch in Tynemouth library, and others will follow.
He said: “It won’t be big numbers but it’s a case of being thoughtful and finding the right opportunities. But we are very keen to find cities or towns where were we can see there’s an opportunity to bring in a Newcastle Building Society.
“We will just keep building in a steady, robust way that will ensure we can continue to build those close relationships within communities we serve.
“Like many regions in the 海角视频 we’ve witnessed the withdrawal of banks and financial institutions from our high streets. We share concerns expressed across our communities as we witness closed premises, visible decline, and the reduction in the availability of local financial services.
“But for a society committed to the region and with a strategy to be part of the solution, this is also an opportunity. In our view, something has to change. It’s time for new and innovative thinking.
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“Our focus on continued innovation, our sustainable, long term business model and our robust financial performance are critical factors in ensuring we can continue to make a genuine, positive difference for the customers and communities we serve across our region and beyond.”
Growth across the group created 157 new jobs, predominantly in the North East. These included a substantial number of technology roles in its fintech subsidiary, Newcastle Strategic Solutions.
The 海角视频’s leading provider of third party online savings management services, the Solutions business, which is based in North Tyneside, welcomed two new challenger banks to its growing client list in 2019.
Meanwhile, the Newcastle Building Society Community Fund grew to £2m during the year and it awarded over £400,000 in grants to 86 charities across its heartland.