Santander Bank on Bridle Road, Bootle
Pre-tax profits rose 10% to £875m for the first six months of the year, although Santander also expects credit demand to remain “subdued” in a challenging market.
Gross mortgage lending was up 14% to £12.3bn giving the bank an estimated 19% market share.
Lending to small firms is also picking up pace, showing a 20% improvement on 2009 levels.
Loss provisions were down to £187m in the second quarter of 2010 from £204m in the first three months of the year.
Santander acquired the former Alliance & Leicester commercial banking centre in Bootle as part of its 2008 takeover of the business, in addition to its earlier acquisitions of Abbey and Bradford & Bingley.
Santander rebranded the Abbey and B&B branches in January, with the Alliance & Leicester high street network to follow later this year.
The recruitment drive is linked to a strategy of targeting its 25 million customers with extra savings and investment products through its branch network.
