The results showed £318m of new mortgage lending, which lead to mortgage book growth of 4.3% and strong liquidity assets of £303m, recording a total asset growth of 1.6% for the year.

The results were boosted by an increase in the society’s underlying performance, supported by the prevailing low interest rates, as well as several one-off financial market movements on its interest rate swap portfolio.

In June, the society completed 254 mortgage transactions, which totalled more than £51m of lending.

The society made investments into its branch network last year, with an upgrade to its Histon branch, while work started on a new site in Butter Market in Bury St Edmonds, which opened earlier this year in January. It also invested in its head office in Cambridge.

The society’s workforce now totals 215 after hiring more than 60 new team members in 2021.

The Cambridge Building Society chief executive officer Peter Burrows says he “could not be more delighted with our results for 2021”, describing them as a “testament to the hard work and dedication of a committed team of experts”.

“[Last year] continued to be a challenging year for most, but we are proud of the resilience we have shown throughout the year, with steady growth, through responsible lending and headline-making savings products that reward our customers’ loyalty to us,” Burrows adds.