A social bank that provides a sustainable alternative for businesses is ensuring its employees also benefit from its values.
Unity Trust, the bank for social enterprise, local councils, trade unions and charities, which is also over a quarter-owned by the Co-operative Bank, has launched a number of inclusive initiatives for employees, from the living wage to share ownership.
Employees (and anyone who works directly for the bank) will receive a living wage which is more than 20 per cent higher than the national minimum wage. Employers accredited by the Living Wage Foundation pay staff at least £8.55 an hour in London, and £7.45 outside the capital, while the national minimum wage for those over 21 is £6.19.
Peter Kelly, the bank’s Business and Development Manager, is based in Birmingham, where 30 per cent of people (600,000) are earning less than the living wage.
He said: “The Living Wage is really important to us and it has a very good fit with our values. At Unity we are pursuing a double bottom line strategy, where we combine the need to achieve social, as well as commercial, objectives. So it is fitting that we are looking after our employees, consultants and contractors.”
Mr Kelly says Unity found the transition is a positive move for its staff, which also “demonstrates what Unity stands for”. He says the bank’s small staff — it has fewer than 100 — are passionate about its values. Each year, employees can take up to five days of leave to help with community projects they care about — these do not have to be the bank’s customers, but will be an initiative that chimes with the organisation’s ethos.
In another plan to repay this commitment, staff have joined an employee share ownership plan (ESOP). Borne out of suggestions from the Government-backed Nuttall Report, ESOP gives employees a stake in the organisation.
Unity is one of the first to offer this benefit to staff, with a gift of 100 shares after one year of service – a value of £280 for each staff member; a total of 11,000 shares have been gifted at a value of £30,800. A further 100 shares will be given to those who have worked for ten years. Staff can also choose to cash those in, or receive annual profit shares.
Mr Kelly said staff will have a stake in the “bank’s success now and in the future” and that this is a natural shift for Unity, which provides an added “core value” for workers.
An Employee Benefit Trust has acquired the shares for staff from current shareholders, which includes trade unions and the Co-operative Bank. Unity has provided a £50,000 gift to help set up the scheme. Trustees of the Employee Benefit Trust will include staff representatives and an independent trustee.
To further cement its ethical activities, the bank released a social impact report last month. The Social Lending Impact report is part of a three-year business strategy launched last year to report more formally on the community impacts the bank has.
In the run-up to the bank’s 30th anniversary next year, it is pursuing a “double bottom line” strategy, according to Mr Kelly, who said the organisation is wanting to show how it offers both a social and financial return.
Added Mr Kelly: “We are delighted to publish this report on our social lending impact, which shows we are a bank with a difference. We need to be reporting what we are doing in the social sector.
“This year we are asking our customers a series of key questions to judge their overall social impact. Everything will be recorded, from every loan we make to asking customers for key information about their social impact, such as how many jobs have been created or retained.”
The report outlines how £19 million of lending was spread across three main areas last year, which were community finance, settled housing and community cohesion. This was a part of Unity’s overall £32m commitment to the social economy last year.
Anthony Murray
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