Aldermore Bank has announced the departure of the Managing Director of its asset finance division with immediate effect.

The Bank has announced that George Ashworth is on ‘gardening leave’, and the process of searching for a suitable replacement has already begun.

The lender has also confirmed that until a replacement is found, Group Commercial Director, Mark Stephens, will head the division.

The news comes as Aldermore announces its half year financial results, which revealed operating profit increased to £9.2 million for the period ending 30 June 2013.

More specifically, the challenger bank also reported lending figures had increased by 34 per cent on the same period last year, marking significant headway since recording its first profits last financial year.

A number of significant milestones were reached over the first half of the year, including the Bank’s balance sheet passing the £3 billion mark for the first time - rising to £3.19 billion – a year-on-year increase of 53 per cent.

Recent data released by the Bank of England on the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) for Q1 2013 demonstrated Aldermore’s significant contribution to supporting households and SMEs across the UK.

Aldermore’s Q1 2013 net lending figure through the FLS was £230 million - the sixth highest amongst all scheme participants, defeating the likes of Lloyds, RBS and Santander, who between them, actually reduced net lending by £4.9 billion in 2013 Q1.

Speaking on the successful results, Phillip Monks, CEO of Aldermore, said: “Our results truly speak for themselves and demonstrate the rapid growth we are seeing across all areas of the Bank. We are firmly in the black, recording a pre-tax operating profit of £9.2 million, significantly ahead of what we’ve achieved in previous years.

“We have remained focused on building a thoroughly modern and innovative Bank and we are now seeing the fruits of our labour pay off. I strongly believe our banking model, offering great rates to British Savers and lending to British SMEs and households is working. Our customers give us honest feedback via our website and they continue to tell us Aldermore is ‘banking as it should be’.

“We plan to continue our support of SMEs and homeowners by further increasing our lending over the remainder of this year, which we feel is particularly important at a time when many are finding it difficult to gain access to finance from many of the high-street banks. We are very much on track to meet our targets for this year and deliver exceptional service for our customers across the UK.”

Furthermore, Aldermore has also announced that Chairman Sir David Arculus is to step down from the Board, with John Callender, Non-Executive Director, taking up his post on an interim basis.

Speaking on his resignation, Sir David Arculus, said: “Aldermore has grown considerably in the last four years and become known as a strong challenger Bank that has consistently lent to British SMEs and homeowners throughout the financial crisis. I am proud to have been part of this exciting journey but feel it’s the right time for me to step down and hand over the reins as Aldermore moves to the next stage of its development. I will be assisting Aldermore in their search for my replacement and have no doubt Aldermore will continue to go from strength to strength.”