The UK’s fourth largest building society had its long-term IDR upgraded to A- (from BBB+) with a stable outlook and its short-term IDR upgraded to F1 (from F2).

The upgrade reflects Fitch’s view that the society’s business model has improved as its mortgages and savings business is more balanced and complemented with its estate agency activities. The upgrade also reflects management’s success in further improving the society’s risk profile while building up its capitalisation and further improvement in asset quality following the implementation of the society’s strategy.

David Cutter (pictured), the Skipton’s group chief executive, said: “On behalf of everyone at Skipton I very much welcome this upgrade – which reflects Skipton’s continued strong performance and sustainable growth. In their assessment Fitch recognises our strong liquidity, our simplified business model and the confidence they have in our management strategy.

“Last year alone, Skipton’s membership grew by over 43,000 to 838,000. And over the last three years both our mortgage and our savings books have grown by 36%. It’s very pleasing to see our strong financial performance, together with a very balanced growth in both savings and mortgage balances, rewarded with credit ratings upgrade.”