Customers beat a path to Coventry Building Society's doors as high street banks close theirs

Pre-tax profits have surged by almost £140 million at Coventry Building Society during a financial year in the face of "unprecedented" economic conditions as customers seek out a friendly face to talk to.

The mutual reported profits of £370.5 million, up from £232.8 million in 2021, for the year to December 31.

The building society said 'consumer demand for the human touch' was driving business to its doors as high street banks continued to close theirs.

Last year Coventry Building Society completed a £33 million investment in its branches. The Society’s members visited its newly designed branch network 2.4 million times in 2022, an annual increase of more than 160,000.

The Society also opened a new state-of-the-art office in April to base its savings contact centre. These teams not only answered 743,000 phone calls during the year, but also spoke to members for around 30 per cent longer each time as rising interest rates led to savers needing more complex conversations about their money.

The Society’s focus on mortgage customers saw more than 270,000 conversations held with mortgage brokers over the phone or on web chat, to help them support borrowers navigating a challenging and volatile market. Mortgage balances grew by £1.4 billion – three per cent - to £48 billion over the year

Chief Executive Steve Hughes said: “Our strong performance last year was built on the high levels of customer and broker service, in person, online and on the phone. In a year with many challenging moments, our people and our mutual business model continued to deliver the consistent value and outstanding customer experience that our members expect.

“We’ve made significant investment in our digital infrastructure, and we will introduce our app, as well as further online developments, during this year. But the need for a human touch, whether face-to-face or over the phone, is still very strong. This is evidenced by the millions of individual conversations our brilliant colleagues have held with our members throughout the year.

“Our multi-million pound investment in our branch network was completed in September, giving us a warm and welcoming presence in some of the most popular shopping areas across our heartland. Our branches are a real positive for us and a hub for the communities we serve and continue to be well-used by so many of our members.

“At times during the year, the number of calls and the length of conversations we were having with members put us under real pressure. We invested in our telephony services, introducing new technology to manage calls more efficiently, as well as growing our service teams and equipping them with the skills to support these more complex calls. We have high standards and I want to thank our members for their patience as we adapted to the new environment.

“Our support for communities is part of who we are, and it was a proud moment for every member and colleague when we announced an additional £1m donation for charities and community groups to help ease the cost-of-living crisis for many of those who are struggling. This is in addition to our normal community investment through the year and thousands of hours of time our colleagues volunteered to help make a difference in our local communities up and down the country.

“This successful year would not have been possible without the hard work, commitment and support of our colleagues. We’re proud to be named as one of the UK’s Great Places to Work with further awards for wellbeing and as a workplace for women. Having an excellent workplace culture gives colleagues the best environment to develop and deliver the best outcomes for our members, our communities and each other.”