Bank of London and The Middle East (BLME), the UK-based wholesale, Sharia- compliant bank, has been awarded Best Islamic Bank in the UK by the Islamic Finance News Annual Poll for 2010.

The Islamic Finance News Awards are widely recognised as the most transparent and comprehensive in the industry.

The awards are now in their sixth year with a 26 per cent increase in number of votes from the previous year.

The awards select the best providers of Islamic financial services across a number of markets worldwide, as well as specific sectors including Islamic finance issuers, investors, non-banking financial intermediaries and government bodies.

The award will be formally presented to BLME at the Islamic Finance News Awards ceremony in February.

This award recognises BLME's high quality service, innovative product development and leading position in the UK market.

'While 2010 was a tough year for the global banking industry, we worked hard to maintain our high levels of customer service and innovative product development,' said BLME chief executive officer Humphrey Percy.

'We are continuing to see positive growth across each of our five core areas of business, in particular asset management and private banking.

'Moving forward in 2011, we are fully prepared to face the challenges and opportunities of the post recession environment across Europe and the Middle East and we are confident that we will continue to leverage the potential offered by Islamic Finance to the international investment community,' he added.-TradeArabia News Service