NATIONWIDE says its Bournemouth staff have played a key part in its latest results, which show mortgage lending back to levels not seen since before the financial crash.

The society’s full-year figures also reveal increased interest in buy-to-let mortgages ahead of the stamp duty changes which came into effect earlier in April.

The mutual saw gross mortgage lending up 20 per cent to £32.6billion and net lending up 28 per cent to £9.1bn.

Member deposit balances grew from £1.9bn to £6.3bn.

The society made net gains as a result of customers switching bank accounts between providers, picking up 525,000 accounts – a 12 per cent increase in 2015.

Underlying profit was up nine per cent to £1.33bn and statutory profit up 23 per cent to £1.27bn.

The society employs more than 900 people in the Bournemouth area, with a major administrative centre on Richmond Hill, and has 331,862 savings accounts customers locally.

Nationwide group director Alison Robb said the Bournemouth team had been “particularly important to us, especially in over the last part of this year”.

She said: “We’ve had a very strong performance in our buy-to-let business in particular, ahead of the government’s changes in stamp duty rates. We had very high levels of activity and a lot of people that do that business for us are based in Bournemouth.

“The other thing is we’ve invested very heavily in our Nationwide Now initiative, with some of our colleagues in Bournemouth who are providing support to customers the length and breadth of the country. The team in Bournemouth has been incredible.”

The Nationwide Now service allows customers in branches to speak to mortgage advisers via a video link.

Ms Robb said the society’s success was linked to its mutual status, which she said meant it could take decisions in the longer-term interests of the business.

“We don’t have an office where there’s a share price up on the wall in reception,” she added.

The society has faced criticism for its executive pay, with former chief executive Graham Beale – who stood down this spring – earning around £2.57m.

Ms Robb said: “This is a big and complex business. It has a balance sheet of over £200bn and 18,000 employees.

"We absolutely have to have highly skilled and really capable people."If you compare what we do with the main banks, it's quite different, but we don't apologise for the fact that this is a very big job and a very big organisation."

Unlike two other major local employers in financial services – Barclays and JP Morgan – Nationwide is not backing the 'remain' side in the EU referendum.

Ms Robb said: “Our position is we’re owned by members, they will vote in a month’s time and we will deal with whatever the outcome of that’s is.

“Whatever happens on June 23, people have still got to live somewhere and they’ve still got to have somewhere safe for their savings," she added.

"We will continue as a business after June 23 and carry on with our strategy in the same way.”

Nationwide says staff at Bournemouth raised £39,577 in the last year for good causes including the neo-natal grief charity SPRING. They also did 3,244 hours of volunteering.