KENT Reliance Building Society has saved up to £4million by switching work from Medway to India, its boss has revealed.

The savings helped the Chatham-based society boost assets by 25 per cent to a record £1.6billion, outpacing the rest of the industry.

Profits rose 47 per cent to £5.95million, while management expenses were cut to 50p for every £100 of assets, down 90p from £1.40 in 2001.

Mike Lazenby, chief executive, put the society’s success down to increased revenue from its Jersey and Guernsey home loans businesses and cost reductions achieved by its Indian operation.

He said: "Over the past three years, we’ve probably saved £3million - £4million from India."

Initially, the society outsourced its processing work to a third party company in India. But two years ago, it set up its own business EasiProcess.

To underline the society’s commitment to the Indian operation, Kent Reliance has taken a second office in Bangalore, boosting its potential workforce in the busy city to 400.

Mr Lazenby said the second Bangalore office would also be a back-up for the other operations, but he was still looking at a possible alternative site in another country, possibly Singapore.

It is expanding in Bangalore to cope with anticipated contracts from UK business customers keen to tap into the savings that Kent Reliance has achieved.

Mr Lazenby said: "We have had inquiries from a building society in the Caribbean, housing associations and a law firm in Maidstone.

"2006 is a landmark year for us as we see the real impact of the cost and efficiency measures that we have been implementing over the last few years.

"There is no society in the industry that can match our performance over the last five years in terms of growth, profit improvement, costs reduction and efficiency gain."