It caps a successful year for the building society which impressed judges with its commitment to ‘kinder banking’ as well as a strong financial performance over the past twelve months.
Colleagues from The Cumberland attended the glittering ceremony at the Halston Hotel in Carlisle hosted by hypnotist and mind reader Aaron Calvert.
If he could have read the mind of Claire Deekes, Chief Customer Officer, and Jill Johnston Chief People Officer at the society, who collected the award he would have seen that they and their team were bursting with pride
Claire said: “Pride is the overwhelming feeling I’d use to describe what it’s like to be recognised in this way, especially given the quality of finalists this year.
“What we’ve seen at these awards is that what we have to offer in our region is nothing short of inspirational, so it’s such an incredible honour to collect this award on behalf of all of The Cumberland.
“This is for all our colleagues and our members who’ve supported us over the last year.”
The ten-strong judging panel with representatives from the likes of Cumbria Tourism, the University of Cumbria and Cartmell Shepherd Solicitors, selected the Cumberland from a strong shortlist of other businesses.
A strong financial performance - including a sharp increase in pre-tax profits which hit £26.6m and the society’s balance sheet exceeding £3bn for the first time - contributed to the win.
As did the Cumberland’s rankings in the Best Companies top 100 companies in the Northwest to work for, which saw the society achieve an ‘outstanding’ two-star rating and was described as a ‘fantastic business with great employees.’
And, its commitment to communities, which saw the society donate £250,000 to FareShare Lancashire and Cumbria to help combat food poverty in across the region with the Kinder Kind of Kitchen initiative.
Volunteers from across the Kinder Kitchens network attended a recent event hosted by Cumbrian broadcaster Helen Skelton where they were recognised for the tireless work they do.