Published: May 19, 2022
In the heart of Birmingham city centre sits the head office of an ethical business bank that has been successfully supporting companies and organisations for the best part of four decades.
To the average person in the street, there’s a good chance the name Unity Trust Bank doesn’t mean anything.
But to thousands of SMEs, charities and social enterprises across the UK, Unity Trust Bank is the organisation that has helped them to achieve their goals.
For when it comes to delivering social impact, improving local communities and helping people live better lives, Unity Trust Bank is quite possibly banking’s best-kept secret.
It was born out of a vision by trade unions to create a bank that would embrace the philosophy of serving the common good. Having just celebrated its 38th birthday, these founding principles are still at the heart of everything Unity Trust Bank does today.
Its purpose is to create a better society and it supports like-minded organisations that address social, economic and environmental needs.
With a commitment to safe and sustainable growth, shareholders and employees have built a robust organisation, making it one of the leading socially motivated business banks.
In 2021, Unity Trust Bank achieved record levels of lending – up 20% to £723.5m – and this helped to:
Unity Trust Bank aligns every loan proposal against one or more of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to ensure that all funds are used to deliver quantifiable impact.
This impact was never more prevalent than during the pandemic when Unity Trust Bank stood side by side with the healthcare industry; between January 2020 and December 2021, £126.8m worth of funding was provided to 100 operators delivering vital frontline services such as pharmacies, dental practices and care homes.
These, and all of Unity Trust Bank’s lending customers, also benefit from one-to-one support from experienced relationship managers who have specialist sector knowledge.
Unity Trust Bank continually seeks to improve. With an ethos firmly embedded in its culture, its recent accolades include being named ‘Socially Responsible Lender of the Year’ by the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers for the second year running and winning ‘Excellence in Responsible Business’ at the Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce’s awards.
Find out more
Do you want to join Unity Trust Bank on its journey to bring about real change? To find out more about the bank that delivers social impact in local communities, contact its UK-based call centre on 0345 140 1000 or visit unity.co.uk
Read Unity Trust Bank’s latest Impact Report at www.unity.co.uk/delivering-impact/
First appeared in The Guardian’s Green & Ethical Checklist on Saturday 7 May.
