Last year, the specialist bank recorded a near 9% rise in loans and advances to customers to £828m.

Total assets grew to £1.07bn, up from £1bn in 2019, while customer deposits reached £917m.

The bank’s total capital ratio (after transitional relief) increased to 24.3% versus 23% in 2019, while its loan loss coverage ratio climbed to 1.5% from 1.1%.

However, its pre-tax profit for the year was £11.2m, significantly lower than in 2019 (£22.5m).

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Donald Kerr, chief executive at Cambridge & Counties Bank (pictured above), said: “In what was a profoundly impacted year for the UK economy, our customers, staff and markets, Cambridge & Counties Bank delivered a very strong performance. 

“We remained open for business and volumes increased; our organic asset growth was not supplemented by government-backed initiatives. 

“I’m immensely proud of the spirit and dedication shown by the bank’s employees and their continued focus on customer service as well as delivering a differentiated, competitive proposition through our broker partners and directly for our customers.”

Simon Moore, chairman at Cambridge & Counties Bank, added: “Our profit before tax, while lower than 2019, represents a very resilient performance in these extraordinary times. 

“There were, of course, headwinds but, looking forward, we are optimistic. 

“We have had a good start to 2021, with income in Q1 higher than the same period a year ago and continued growth in the balance sheet driven by our core real estate lending business.”

Throughout the year, Cambridge & Counties Bank increased its number of staff to 165 following numerous senior hires, including the appointment of Donald Kerr as CEO; Tina Hayton-Banks as chief operating officer; and David Holton as chief transformation officer.

The lender also invested significantly in its digital and technology infrastructure and expects to invest a further £2m in 2021. 

In addition to the launch of a new deposits servicing customer portal, the bank completed the first stage of a new business intelligence platform: a company-wide data warehouse that incorporates information from Cambridge & Counties’ core banking platform, asset finance system, financial crime and contact strategy databases, as well as climate data. 

2020 also saw the company enhance its broad ESG and sustainability programme by extending its carbon neutral status to include all regional offices and became qualified for a new carbon neutral + rating due to offsetting 100 tonnes of CO2 emissions through the UK Tree Planting project.