Profits tumble at The Nottingham after ‘extraordinary’ year

Nottingham Building Society has seen profits fall dramatically to just £400,000 for 2020 in a “year of extraordinary challenge”.

The figures followed a fall of £13m to £10m in 2019.

Last year, The Nottingham revealed that up to 120 jobs were at risk after it revealed plans to close its estate agency and lettings operations and merge branches.

The Nottingham also entered into an agreement with Grantham-headquartered Belvoir Group, in a move which will see the Society deliver estate agency and lettings services to its members through Belvoir’s network of franchisees trading under the brands Belvoir, Northwood, Newton Fallowell and Lovelle.

David Marlow, chief executive, said: “2020 was not the year we were expecting, but once we understood the significance of the threat of the virus, we acted quickly on our three key priorities: to ensure the wellbeing of our colleagues; to protect and serve our members; and to support our communities.

“In everything we have done in 2020, we have sought to be true to our mutual ethos. In fact, the challenges of the pandemic have enabled us to demonstrate the real benefits of mutuality to our members. Over the years, we have built up a significant capital surplus. The board was unanimous that we should deploy some of this capital to support our members and communities in a time of crisis, and at the same time, we were determined to, increase the level of investment in the Society, to deliver the required strategic initiatives and respond effectively to the rapidly changing world around us.

“These decisions inevitably have impacted our 2020 financial results of the Society, reducing overall income and supressing net interest margin but also increasing investment costs, but position us well for the future.”