Loan growth at the specialist bank for the six months to 31st December 2018 was 4%, the equivalent to an annual growth of 9%.

Business finance loans increased by 3% to £3.2bn, while retail mortgages were up 5% to £6.2bn.

Phillip Monks, chief executive officer at Aldermore (pictured above), said: “In a competitive market, we have achieved good profitability and returns while managing risk appropriately.”

Aldermore was acquired by FirstRand  and delisted from the London Stock Exchange in March 2018.

“Under FirstRand’s ownership, Aldermore has continued to serve and seek out specialist areas of the market where we can achieve superior returns by providing customers with an exceptionally high level of service,” added Phillip.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the specialist bank, which has grown from 30 to over 1,000 employees.

It has now trained over 600 brokers through its broker training academy  and provided total gross mortgage lending of more than £9bn.

Phillip added: “Ten years ago, many small businesses were losing a battle for survival as the banking establishment pulled up the drawbridge.

“Founded as a start-up in 2009, Aldermore was the first of a new breed of challenger banks to offer a strong alternative and I’m proud of the additional choice we have made available to businesses, homeowners and landlords.

“We’ve built a robust, secure bank that has grown year after year by treating customers as individuals rather than numbers.

“We think it’s an approach that will bring continued success in the decade to come.”