Comparisons with the results of other building societies and banks for the first half of 2006, show that the Society’s mortgage balances have grown by over 8%, comfortably outstripping the growth rates achieved by former building societies Abbey, Alliance & Leicester, Barclays (the owners of Woolwich) and HBOS (owners of Halifax). The comparison with the performance of the remaining building societies is even more pronounced, at almost double the average growth rate of just 4.2%.
Savings growth is even more dramatic with the highly competitive range of mini-cash ISAs, fixed rate bonds, regular savings and award winning children’s accounts helping Kent Reliance achieve double digit growth of 11%, more than two and a half times the growth rate of the remaining societies and consistently higher than the former societies which have converted to banks.
Commenting on the figures, deputy chief executive, Rob Procter said: “these tremendous results demonstrate the effectiveness of our decisions to outsource work to India and transfer our branches to agencies. The cost savings are passed on to our savers and borrowers by way of superior products. It is no accident that this innovative approach to business has made Kent Reliance the fastest growing building society in the country over the last five years.”
Mike Lazenby, the outspoken leader of the tiny Kent Reliance, shocked building society leaders at last years annual CML conference when he forecast the demise of the industry if they did not adapt to the changing realities of the 21st century. The Society’s decisions to outsource work to India and franchise its branch network were met with wide spread scepticism. However, the Society’s results back up the controversial approach and are a salutary warning to those who refuse to adapt.
