Skipton Building Society says it had 'outstanding year'

The parent company of Skipton Business Finance, Skipton Building Society has delivered “outstanding” results for 2014, seeing pre-tax profits leap 75 per cent to £181.6 million.

David Cutter, Group Chief Executive (pictured right) said: “I’m optimistic about the future. We are growing and we have the strongest set of results coming out of the sector this week.”

Other key figures from its annual results included a 31,276 increase in members to 794,739, its mortgage book grew by £1.3bn to £12.7bn, gross residential mortgage lending up 23% to £3.0bn, and the society’s credit ratings were upgraded by both Fitch and Moody’s during the year.

Skipton Business Finance, the invoice finance arm of the society, has also been very much part of that success.

2014 saw a 20 per cent increase in client numbers which added to the already-strong portfolio and the company is in a strong position to continue to grow and develop their client-oriented business model into new geographical areas through natural expansion.

Greg Bell, Managing Director of Skipton Business Finance, said: “Much of our success is in that we truly believe that we’re a pioneer in understanding the future potential of our clients and have enjoyed great success working with UK businesses that, when given access to additional working capital, go on to flourish and reach their true potential.”

He added: “We very much share the same ethos as the society in that we understand our clients’ businesses and assist them in creating wealth and jobs in the region.”

Also in 2014 the society:

  • Ranked the third highest financial services provider for customer experience excellence
  • Re-accredited as a Customer First organisation, the national standard for customer service
  • Helped 19,512 homeowners (2013: 14,109) to purchase or remortgage their properties, including 2,946 first time buyers (2013: 2,283), and 667 through participation in the Government’s ‘Help to Buy’ equity loan scheme
  • Donated £120,000 to the Skipton Building Society Charitable Foundation, which enabled the Foundation to support registered charities, involved in helping people of all ages
  • Group total assets increased by 10.3% during the year to £16.0bn (2013: 5.3%, to £14.5bn)