The Co-operative Bank’s dedicated intermediary mortgage business lifted lending from £0.3bn in 2009 to £0.6bn last year. The figures were released today as part of The Co-operative’s annual results for 2010 which saw the financial services business increase profits by 17.7% to £208.6m.
Lee Gladwell, Business Development Director at Platform, said:
“These numbers show how we significantly stepped up our lending and support for intermediaries during 2010. Whilst the numbers represent a small proportion of the market, they confirm our growing presence in a period when many of our competitors were retrenching.
“In 2009, we controlled volumes carefully as we built a new proposition anchored on helping intermediaries really deliver for their clients. Last year, we broadened this to a wider broker market whilst remaining absolutely focused on listening and responding to their needs.
“We plan to continue this growth during 2011, particularly building our presence in the buy to let market.”
Platform launched as a mainstream mortgage lender to the intermediary market in 2009. It has built its approach on delivering high levels of service to intermediaries and makes a series of pledges such as not to cross sell; and to publish processing timescales on its website each day.
In 2010, Platform took the decision to move its mortgage processing unit based at Canary Wharf to a central function in Leek to support its focus on service and continued expansion. Latest results from its regular broker satisfaction survey reflect that the move has been successful with ratings at their highest ever level.
Platform now plans further growth in 2011 and is focused on increasing its share in the buy to let market.
