Our purpose
We champion potential, helping people, families, and businesses to thrive.
We know our success depends on helping our customers succeed. By championing potential we can make a meaningful impact in our customers’ lives, and equip them to play a positive part in the economy and environment.
We’re concentrating on bringing our purpose to life across three initial areas of focus.
Learning
At its heart, learning – and sharing learning – is about curiosity and being open to the world around us.
As an organisation, we never stop learning. We investigate the latest technologies to open new possibilities for our customers. We use our deep wells of data to understand our customers better. And we invite the best of industry in so we can keep improving how we do what we do.
This curiosity extends to our people too, and we make sure they have the tools and the ability to learn in ways that suit them.
- We’ve committed to helping 2.5m people improve their financial capability each year
- All our colleagues in frontline jobs are professionally accredited within their first 18 months
- Our CareerSense initiative helps young people aged 13-24 to understand their career choices, and gives them the skills to make the most of them
Climate
We know that climate change is one of the greatest challenges facing our planet, and we intend to do our part to lead the transition to a green economy.
We’re a leading lender to the UK renewables sector, and we’re helping shape our customers’ behaviours. Our banking app now includes a free carbon footprint calculator, while our green mortgage rewards customers buying more energy-efficient homes.
And for thousands of our colleagues, remote-first working means time back and greater flexibility, along with the carbon benefits of cutting out the commute.
- We made our operations carbon net zero during 2020, and we’re working towards climate positive by 2025
- We’re aligning our lending and portfolio to the aims of the Paris Agreement, and intend to halve the climate impact of our financing by 2030
- We save at least 25% of spaces on our Entrepreneur Accelerator programme for climate focussed businesses
Enterprise
We’re already the UK’s biggest bank for enterprise. We’re now working to remove barriers which prevent people and groups from reaching their entrepreneurial potential.
Our Chief Executive led the Rose Review into Female Entrepreneurship for HM Treasury, making recommendations to address the entrepreneurial gender gap. And with our free Business Builder course and our intensive Entrepreneur Accelerator scheme, we’re helping more people than ever to start and scale-up their businesses.
Our people benefit from our commitments as well, with our three stage Entrepreneurial Development Academy fostering a growth mindset, and the skills to back it up.
- We’re committed to helping create 50,000 new businesses across the UK by 2023
- We’ll also have supported more than half a million people in considering entrepreneurship as a career by 2023
- Our Dream Bigger initiative picks up the baton from the Rose Review, giving girls aged 16-18 the knowledge, skills and belief to become future entrepreneurs
Our Purpose in action – India Foundation
We’ve been present in India for decades, and we’re a proud supporter of her people, communities and environment.
Our India Foundation shows how we act on our purpose outside of our main customer markets in the UK and Ireland. The foundation provides education to allow people in rural, disenfranchised communities to participate in the global economy. It supports enterprise to preserve traditional crafts in improved working conditions. And its initiatives preserve India’s natural ecology and biodiversity.
These efforts have been recognised by the United Nations, with a Biodiversity Award and World Tourism Award.