Challenger bank sees lending almost double to £323m
Cambridge & Counties Bank lent a company record £323m to SMEs, entrepreneurs and real estate professionals last year – up 47 percent from the £220m it handed out in 2020.
The Leicester-based specialist lender saw its gross customer loans and advances increase to £993 million in 2021 – a rise of 18 percent – while its customer deposits totalled £1.026bn.
The bank, which took on an average of 11 percent more staff in 2021, saw its post-tax profits jump from £9.4m to £15.5m.
Cambridge & Counties chairman Simon Moore said: “The pandemic has accelerated the pace of change in our industry. We are investing in accelerating our capabilities; allowing us to embed our manual underwriting approach in risk assessment and pricing to the benefit of our customers.
“While uncertainty persists post pandemic, including the Ukraine conflict, global supply chain disruption, and high inflation, we see customer demand remaining robust and opportunities continuing to emerge. We have the right strategy, business model and ambition to deliver on the bank’s potential.”
CEO Donald Kerr added: “While the pandemic remained a challenge for all of us in 2021, the UK economy improved, and the bank was well positioned to meet demand through our competitive products and client centred approach. Our valued relationship with brokers remains our focus and a key foundation of our growth.
“We are committed to realising the bank’s strategy: expanding our reach to service our customers and brokers, investing in our people and technology and, looking ahead, delivering an even richer service. We also saw significant success in our ESG programme and our commitment to continuously improving our approach to sustainability and social responsibility. We will build on this further in 2022.”
