Ipswich Building Society has received national recognition, after being named ‘Best Regional Building Society’ by What Mortgage magazine. 

The Society scooped the top honours in the 2010 ‘What Mortgage’ magazine awards, fighting off tough competition from fellow mutual’s Norwich & Peterborough, Cambridge, Kent Reliance and Coventry Building Society.

The judging panel were impressed by the Society’s ability to provide long-term value for customers and their commitment to providing innovative and competitive products. The Society was also commended for their impressive communication channels and their active role within the local community.

As well as receiving the top honours as ‘Best Regional Building Society’, the Society’s shared ownership mortgage was ‘Highly Commended’ in the ‘First Time Buyer Initiative’ category.

Paul Winter, chief executive of Ipswich Building Society said of the award; “We are absolutely delighted. Our success is due to the confidence and support shown in us by our members. We take our commitment to our customers seriously and we are continually focusing on our quality of service and providing competitive products.”

Ben Wilkie from What Mortgage magazine added; "Ipswich Building Society is the deserved winner of this year's award because of its commitment to all areas of the mortgage business. You can't always see who the best lenders are during the good times - it's when the market becomes more difficult that you see who has their customers' interests at heart."

The award tops off a successful year for the Society, during which they have recorded impressive annual results and been awarded the title of ‘Business of the Year’ at the Anglian Business Awards 2009.

The What Mortgage awards were established in 1992, and showcase the best financial services within the industry. For more information about What Mortgage magazine, visit www.whatmortgage.co.uk 

For more information about Ipswich Building Society, visit www.ibs.co.uk or www.twitter.com/IpswichBuildSoc 

About Ipswich Building Society

1. Ipswich Building Society has approximately 65,000 members and currently has over 80,000  savings accounts and over 5,000 mortgage accounts.
2. There are nine branches across Suffolk in Aldeburgh, Saxmundham, Halesworth, Woodbridge,  Tower Ramparts Ipswich, Ravenswood Ipswich, Hadleigh, Haverhill and Sudbury.
3. 80% of the Society’s members live in the East of England with the remainder living across the  UK.
4. The Society revealed a record set of results for 2009 including asset growth of 9% resulting in  total asset size of £462m.
5. Ipswich Building Society was established in 1849 and celebrated the 160th anniversary of its  formation in 2009.
6. See www.ibs.co.uk or www.twitter.com/IpswichBuildSoc