Just Mortgages has reported a 17% rise in profits for the year ending December 2015, on an increased turnover of 6%.

The firm carried out £1 billion of mortgage lending in 2015 and increased its life sales by 9.2%.

In September it announced the launch of a new client servicing division, followed by a specialist new homes division in October.

Just Mortgages started the year with the launch of a London-specific office for high net worth clients. Shortly after it launched a will writing partnership, and latterly with the appointment of Carl Parker to head up the newly formed division for brokers who prefer to be self-employed but remain under the Just Mortgages banner.

Just Mortgages also made some key staff appointments, including John Phillips who joined as group operations director of Spicerhaart and strategic responsibility for Just Mortgages last June.  Just Mortgages has increased the number of brokers in the firm by almost a third from 85 at the end of 2014 to 120 by December 2015.  This number has increased again to 138 in the first two months of this year with plans to continue this expansion across the new homes division, the self-employed options, as well as in the Spicer Haart estate agencies.

Just Mortgages has also become an appointed representative of Openwork, moving from Legal & General’s shortly to be defunct network to become the largest mortgage writing business in Openwork by some margin. This move was completed on 21 March.

Antony Lark (pictured), managing director of Just Mortgages, said: “We had an incredible year of growth and transformation in 2015.  We have invested heavily in the business but have still increased our profits by a significant 17%.

“We have ambitious plans to continue our expansion and we are now positioned to take advantage of a fantastic year of opportunity.”