Newcastle Building Society will go against the grain and open more branches as other financial institutions close sites around the country, its chief executive says.
Speaking as the society announced strong half-year results, with increased profits and mortgage lending, chief executive Andrew Haigh said the society would be building on a strategy that has seen it recently announce the opening of branches in Wooler, Northumberland, and at Hawes, in North Yorkshire.
Both new branches will be in community facilities, with the plans for Wooler coming after all the other banks in the village closed their branches there.
At a time of both widespread branch closures and threats to the UK cash machine network, the building society has committed to maintaining and refurbishing its North East branches and says it “expects to announce additional new locations as the year progresses”.
Mr Haigh also announced financial results which saw operating profit before impairment and provisions increasing by 18% to £8.5m, while net core residential lending for the first half of year was £220m, which exceeded its 2018 full-year equivalent by £60m.
The building society also created 41 new jobs in the first half of the year and expects that figure to top 100 by the end of 2019.
He said: “This is the impact of a number of years of investment in people, technology and infrastructure, but more than anything it’s a consistent strategy of putting customers and the region at the heart of everything we’re doing.
“We can see the impact of that across the whole business. We’re really pleased, in what’s an intensely competitive market, to be reporting an improved profit position by 18% and really pleased too to see our lending growing.”
The society reported record gross mortgage lending of £380m, an increase of 65% on the first half of 2018. Mortgage arrears remain at low levels at 0.36%, while the society grew its customer base by more than 25,000.
The society’s success has in recent years been boosted by the work of Newcastle Strategic Solutions, which provides savings management services to other financial solutions. The division saw further growth in savings balances under administration and income in the first half.
The society has also highlighted the creation of new community branches, following the model of a branch within a local library at Yarm, on Teesside. Both the Wooler and Hawes openings will see the society working with village community groups, and Mr Haigh says that model will be repeated in other rural communities.
He said: “At a time when many banks are withdrawing from high streets, we still passionately believe in the role that branches and face to face advice plays in supporting local communities.
“That’s why we have been re-imagining our branch formats, investing heavily in them to ensure they continue to meet the needs of local people, and in the process growing our customer base.”
He added: “The Society continues to make excellent progress in the face of very strong competition in the mortgage and savings market.
“Investing in branches and local High Streets, delivering an outstanding customer experience and enabling our colleagues to realise their potential remain at the heart of our strategy and will continue to ensure we make a positive contribution to our members and the communities in which we operate.”
