Published: September 23, 2021
Unity Trust Bank is delighted to have been shortlisted in two categories in the 2021 NACFB Patron Awards. We are candidates for the Socially Responsible Lender of the Year and the Covid Response Award.
The National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers is the UK’s largest independent trade body for commercial finance brokers and the annual awards recognise the very best in lending industry excellence.
Unity’s submission for the Socially Responsible Lender of the Year category demonstrated how we continued to strengthen our relationships with brokers and intermediaries to ensure that smaller, community-focused businesses had access to affordable finance.
In the first half of 2021 we increased our lending by £68m to £677m, which helped thousands of people across the UK through the provision of safe housing, jobs, bed and day care spaces and community facilities.
This year we were reaccredited with the Fair Tax Mark for the eighth consecutive year, signed up to the Race at Work Charter and sponsored the EOA’s Employee Ownership Day.
For the Covid Response Award Unity demonstrated how being socially determined, financially strong and operationally resilient meant we were ideally placed to manage the impact of Covid.
Our track record of safe and sustainable growth throughout the pandemic saw our customer base grow by seven per cent during 2020.
We supported 250 SMEs through Responsible Finance Intermediaries and increased support for frontline organisations with £23m of new lending to pharmacies and £16m to care homes.
Remaining fully operational we delivered an uninterrupted service and quickly adapted our internal processes to pass base rate reductions on to customers immediately.
In 2021 our satisfaction levels markedly increased, with Unity’s NPS score rising by four points from pre-Covid levels.
We continued to offer employees paid’ leave to support good causes which resulted in 148 volunteer days, and our voluntary salary scheme and corporate donations totalled £13,500.
The winners will be announced at the annual Gala Awards and Dinner at the Westminster Park Plaza on Thursday, November 25. In the mean time, please vote for Unity here.
