FINANCE
Money box Darly is the children ’ s savings account mascot at the Darlington . society was also determined to offer a helping hand to members who might feel isolated or be struggling in other ways .
“ Our staff always put our members at the heart of everything we do ,” says Darren , who has worked his way up the ranks since joining his local branch in Redcar when he was 18 .
“ We ’ ve made more than 1,000 welfare calls to members who were isolating or shielding and might not have spoken to anyone other than us , to see if there was any way we could help them .
“ We ’ ve been out to people ’ s homes , socially distancing on driveways , making sure they have access to their money .
“ Not only have we kept branches open but we ’ ve now extended hours for people who are working from home and we ’ re one of the few financial institutions that ’ s open on a Saturday .
“ When it comes to their life savings , people want to deal with someone they know and trust . We know the members who come into our branches as people and most of those phone calls were carrying on that regular conversation we have with them .”
While many lenders are currently holding back funds , the Darlington is doing all it can to continue helping people .
“ One of the biggest barriers to home ownership is saving a deposit ,” says Darren . “ We ’ ve launched a mortgage with only a 10 per cent deposit . If it was available nationally we would be inundated , so we ’ ve restricted it to our local operating area to ensure local people continue to have access to low deposit mortgages .
“ Our USP is that we personally underwrite all mortgages , so we have people making decisions on whether we lend money or not , not computers . We also do different types of lending , through both brokers and direct to customers , such as to older borrowers , selfbuild lending and mortgages for self-employed people .”
But to do all this good work , the society needs to be financially resilient . Andrew – who brought a lifetime of banking and building society experience to the Darlington when he took charge two years ago – is delighted to report a rosy financial picture .
“ We have a balance sheet of just over £ 650m , with about £ 45m reserves that we don ’ t spend , so we ’ re very strongly capitalised with excellent liquidity ,” he says . “ We will make a profit this year , although not as much as last year , for obvious reasons .
“ We don ’ t go out to make huge profits , we give as much back as we can to our members and the community , but we do remain profitable because we need to invest in the business .”
And while we ’ ve become used to hearing news of job losses , the Darlington recently advertised six new apprentice positions – and were so impressed with the 300 applicants that they ended up taking on eight instead .
“ Darren joining us at 18 and rising through the company epitomises what we ’ re looking for in our staff ,” says Andrew . “ We want to promote from within and give staff opportunities to develop . That ’ s part of our commitment to this area .”
The voice of business in the Tees region | 73