Ipswich Building Society is adopting a hybrid business development model that will see the society blend face-to-face contact with video meetings, webinars and pre-records where appropriate.

The society, which is rebranding to Suffolk Building Society later this year, said it had looked at the most effective ways to serve brokers and which working practices would best support the changing needs of intermediaries after the pandemic.

Following its success of remote working during the national lockdowns, the Ipswich stated, it has decided to embed virtual elements into the everyday business development manager (BDM) role, moving towards a hybrid model.

The Ipswich also suggested the move, which would see its BDMs spending less time travelling, will feed into its own climate change agenda.

The society’s head of intermediary relations, Charlotte Grimshaw, commented: “We’re not reinventing the wheel, we’re just freeing up our BDMs to adopt a contact strategy which works best for them, rather than targeting face to face as the holy grail of broker relationships 100% of the time. The benefits of this new system means less time spent out on the road, less downtime and more time for appointments and enquiries which can be useful for both parties.

“With changes to broker working patterns, we know sometimes being virtual just works better. The role of our BDMs is not changing, and they will still very much be out and about, building and maintaining strong relationships in person, however, instead of this being the case in all instances, they’ll be adopting a hybrid mix.

“This move also feeds into the society’s climate change agenda, which is rightly at the forefront of our strategic decisions, with fewer in person meetings meaning a reduction in energy usage and pollution. Along with the hybrid BDM model we are also considering how to embed sustainability into all we do.”

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