Edinburgh-based private bank Hampden & Co today said demand for the personal touch has helped drive significant growth in the business in the first half of the year.
The company offers customers direct contact with bankers in the face of an industry-wide push towards automation.
Latest business figures released by the bank, which also operates from a base in London, show it grew its deposits by £95 million, a rise of 39% on the same period last year and lending by £47 million, up 44%.
The increases saw income growth of 48%.
The first half of 2019 saw the launch of an improved digital banking service and the strengthening of its banking teams in Edinburgh and London.
Chief executive Graeme Hartop said: “Despite the industry wide move towards automation and anonymity, the ongoing growth demonstrated in these figures shows a pent-up demand for our personalised private banking service.”
Hartop said he was “confident as we head into the second half of the year” and said figures since the half-year end had been positive.
He added: “Even during the more traditionally quiet months of July and August, the bank has continued to attract new clients, driving both sides of the balance sheet, maintaining Hampden & Co’s growth trajectory.”
Latest annual figures filed by the bank in June showed it narrowed operating losses last year to £5.8m, from £6.4 million in 2017.
Hampden & Co became the first UK private bank to be established in a quarter of a century when it opened for business in June 2015. It is headquartered on Edinburgh’s Charlotte Square and has a London office in Mayfair.
