Progressive Re-develops Landmark Belfast Building

Progressive Building Society, Northern Ireland’s largest locally-owned financial institution, has announced that it has created 13 new jobs across the Society and has invested in the redevelopment of its landmark Head Office building which has officially reopened in Belfast.

According to Chief Executive, Darina Armstrong the new jobs and the redevelopment of Progressive’s Wellington Place office is part of a targeted £2m high street investment programme that it has rolled out across its Northern Ireland branches to support the mutual’s growth and expansion.

Progressive which last year celebrated 100 years of providing mortgage and savings services to the people of Northern Ireland, increased new mortgage lending in 2014 by 30% to £153m with post tax profits of £9.85m.

Commenting at the relaunch of the Wellington Place branch Darina said, “At Progressive we are proud of our strong and respected credentials as Northern Ireland’s largest independent home grown mortgage lender and savings provider. The investment in our Head Office and the new jobs we have created are a reflection of the success of our strategy of supporting our twelve local branches and directly engaging with our members and potential customers in towns and cities across Northern Ireland.

“Our direct engagement, putting people at ease while ensuring they have all the required information, is something we hugely value across the organisation and has been instrumental to our growth and development. While other organisations are pulling out of the high street, we continue to invest with a new branch in, Arthur Square, Cornmarket, Belfast and a series of new locations or branch redevelopments over the last 15 months including Ballymena and Derry.

“Our Wellington Place branch has been a landmark building for Belfast and a cherished home for us for almost 50 years. As Northern Ireland’s only building society, Progressive has been serving the people of Northern Ireland for over 100 years and our Head Office has been a symbol of our commitment to support our members through the good times and the not so good.

“The last 18 months has seen customer confidence rise in the housing market in Northern Ireland and we expect to see sustainable growth into early 2016 and beyond. At Progressive our focus will remain on supporting our members, providing them with security and financial strength and investing in our branches and our people to ensure we provide an exemplary service to anyone seeking mortgage and savings products.