Commenting on the results, John Goodfellow, chief executive and director of Skipton Building Society said: "At the risk of repeating the report I gave for 2001, the last 12 months have been another year of increasing challenge; bank base rates have remained unchanged for over a year, competition for market share has increased further, the burden of regulation has overshadowed our work and margins have been squeezed to levels I would previously have thought impossible. However, even in this increasingly challenging environment, Skipton Building Society has thrived, growing both organically and by acquisition.
“ One of the most demanding issues for any provider in the mortgage market is the increasing level of remortgaging by customers, but the current levels of churning cannot be sustained. Skipton's view is very much for the longer-term, taking the attitude that customer service will become a much stronger factor in borrowers' decisions to move lenders. This attitude is reflected in our Mortgage Discount Scheme whereby discounts are given to borrowers who have held their mortgage with the Society for two years or more.”
