NATIONWIDE – which employs more than 1,000 people locally – has hailed a record-breaking half-year.

The mutual, whose administration centre in Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, employs 700 people, saw gross mortgage lending reach £14 billion in the six months to September 30.

That figure was up 14 per cent on the same period in 2014, while the number of first time buyers helped into their first home was up eight per cent to 25,700.

It also increased member deposit balances to £2.6 billion and saw more than 250,000 new accounts opened.

Jobs were created in Bournemouth from the rollout of Nationwide Now, the service which allows customers in branches to speak to mortgage advisers by video link.

Alison Robb, group director with Nationwide, told the Daily Echo: “It’s a record half year.”

She said the society had competitive mortgage products but was “maintaining quality”, with lending-to-value ratio at 69 per cent.

She said: “We employ more than 1,000 people in and around the Bournemouth area and now we’re absolutely committed to the local economy and supporting the jobs market.

"It’s very important to us. We’re recruiting around 40 people in the local area.”

The rollout of the Nationwide Now servicehas created around 100 jobs in Bournemouth.

“The customer feedback we’re getting from that team is absolutely great,” said Ms Robb.

Nationwide’s buy-to-let mortgage subsidiary TMW has also created jobs in Bournemouth.

The society announced last week that BT Openreach chief executive Joe Garner would take over as its CEO next year.

Ms Robb said: “The board, when they were looking for a new chief executive, were very much looking for someone committed to mutuality, who was really focused on maintaining the values of the organisation.”

She said Nationwide’s decision to remain a mutual society had been vindicated in the week when a report catalogued the failures behind the collapse of HBOS.

“Look at the results Nationwide has released. I think that track record speaks for itself,” she said.

“The legal constraints on the society mean that we have a lot more constraints in what kind of business we can do and that stands us in good stead. We have the ability to take the long-term view. We don’t have a share price we have to watch every day.”