Following a year of reinvention and transformation, Suffolk Building Society has delivered a strong financial performance for the year ending 30 November 2021. We can report an increase in profit this year with growth in the mortgage book and savings balances, enabling us to ensure sustainability for members and invest for the future.
The Society successfully completed a name change to Suffolk Building Society, including a complete rebrand on November 9th, 2021.
Key numbers for the year:
● Total profit before tax was £2.9m (2020: £1.9m)
● Mortgage completions of £175m (2020: £123m) with a mortgage book growth of 8% to £615m (2020: £568m)
● Savings balances increased by £23.5m to a total of £648m (2020: £624m)
This year saw our mortgage product offering expand with a return to 90% Loan To Value (LTV) mortgages and the reintroduction of shared ownership. These changes sat alongside an increase in maximum loan size to £1m for 80% LTV products.
Our manual approach to underwriting enables applications to be considered on an individual basis and has allowed us to continue to work with niche cases. Resulting in an impressive mortgage book increase of 8%.
Alan Harris, Chairman, commented on the year:
“We have ended the year with our financial position as strong as it’s ever been, and with a new name and livery, we’re ready for the next chapter in the Society’s history.
“We’ve received some really positive feedback about our new name and new look across our membership base, our intermediary partners and our contemporaries and feel hugely invigorated as we make decisions to ensure the Society is as relevant today as it has been for nearly two centuries.
“In this time of great uncertainty, sacrifice and change, Suffolk Building Society remains committed to helping its communities buy a home and provide a safe place to save for the future. To this end, I would like to thank all of our staff and my colleagues on the board for their unstinting commitment and dedication”
Additional highlights from the year:
Savings: The Society’s retail savings have grown significantly by £23.5m, with 2,772 new savings accounts opened, which included 935 new savings members. Continuing previous efforts, the Society is pleased to report that it retained 26% of Child Trust Fund customers whose accounts matured this year – a total of £972,000.
Member satisfaction: Through our new review service, Smart Money People, we have recorded extremely positive members reviews throughout the year for mortgages, savings and the personal service we are able to offer in branch.
Branches: Despite another year of challenging times during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Society managed to operate branches safely and provide members with great face-to-face customer service where possible.
Environmental: We have made strides to reduce our carbon footprint and help combat climate change. A long-term goal for the Society is to be net zero by 2030 and introduce environmentally focused products and initiatives to encourage staff and members to be considerate of their carbon footprint.
Community: As a Society who think community first, we’re delighted to report we donated a total of £26,300 to local causes, and we volunteered in initiatives to improve the natural environment local to our branches.
See our Full Report and Accounts on our Annual General Meeting page.
