The Responsible Finance Podcast

Colleen Ebbitt from JPMorganChase and Danielle Davis from First Enterprise join us today for a fascinating chat about listening to and supporting under-served businesses so they can thrive. How? Well, Colleen covers JPMorganChase's small business philanthropy, which supports small business owners on their journeys to growth. A £4m initiative, supported by JPMorganChase, is strengthening community...

"The only gig in town came with 60% interest, because we were considered subprime lending. It meant that every payment of £15,000 included £9,000 interest." Business owner David, who subsequently saved more than £80,000 in interest a year by refinancing with a CDFI. When it comes to high-cost credit, most of us think of personal borrowing and payday loans. But the quote above comes from a business...

Kate Pender is CEO of Fair4All Finance, an organisation launched to improve the financial services sector so it better serves people who are underserved and excluded. She was appointed chief executive in 2024 having worked with Fair4All since its inception in 2019: "I drank the Kool-Aid and got hooked on the work." Kate is also a member of the Government's financial inclusion committee. She descri...

Why did NatWest Group choose to work with community development finance institutions (CDFIs) as part of its cost-of-living support package? What can be done to signpost CDFIs to bank customers who are financially vulnerable? How do bank to CDFI referral processes work for businesses and social enterprises? And why are CDFIs such a "terrific part of the overall ecosystem of financial services" whos...

Katalin Juhasz and Ollie Pollard join us today to show how impact alignment between investors and social enterprises makes a difference to communities and businesses – plus what traditional city institutions can learn from social investors. Ollie is Head of Enterprise Growth Funds at Resonance, founded in 2002 with the mission to connect capital to social enterprise. It had around £350m under mana...

Low emissions zones became a political battleground just after recording this interview with Kate Barnard, founder and CEO of Enjoy The Air. But what does the public think? Can we prove the impact of "hard or soft" interventions on air quality? And just how far are people prepared to go when it comes to action in response to poor air quality? "I was astounded" says Kate as she reveals the results...

A community banking agreement brokered by a disadvantaged community with a mainstream bank two decades ago offers valuable insights to address financial exclusion today. Niall Alexander, a "community worker by trade" says the "groundswell" in addressing unfairness and financial exclusion is now reaching a peak. People "aren't asking for gold plated taps" – they need very small sums of money, but c...

Caz and Darron Burness already had a thriving business – doggy day care, pet-sitting, home boarding and other services – when they spotted an opportunity to purchase a kennels premises. It was the perfect fit. But how to finance the acquisition? A £100,000 loan from BCRS Business Loans unlocked their ambition and growth plans, safeguarded several jobs and has enabled them to create new jobs too. B...

Impact investing has moved into the mainstream. Many asset owners and managers are trying to deliver more positive social and environmental impact as well as a financial return. Yet just a few years ago many institutions were dismissive or sceptical. How did this change? "It's not about telling people what they should do, it's demonstrating what can be done and the power of the possible," says Sar...

Ready for some big numbers? How about £165 million? Just one of the staggering figures revealed in Salad Money's first ever impact report. Salad CEO Tim Rooney tells us how the social enterprise, which lends to NHS and Public Sector workers, has helped applicants identify £165m in benefits they could apply for but were not claiming. Its customers "spend to and not beyond their means," he says, "bu...

This is both an extraordinary and, sadly, an every day tale. All over the UK people with children or caring responsibilities compete for shifts or work patterns which fit around them, face the 'poverty premium' or are locked out from opportunities. "I was dismissed on so many levels," says Jules Hawkins. "I knew I was capable of more and I knew I wanted to be a taxpayer." Jules' "whole world crumb...

Stephen Tighe and Sheryl Doe founded Allegro Opticians to address specific issues which the eyesight of musicians and performing artists. The business now has customers from all over the world, has won multiple business awards, has a trusted high street presence with three branches, and has grown from two to more than twenty employees. Stephen describes his career background in the armed forces an...

Air pollution contributes to around 40,000 deaths a year in the UK and more in many other parts of the world. Enjoy The Air helps cities achieve air quality standards through policy, infrastucture and behaviour change. CEO and founder Kate Barnard, an engineer, describes why she launched the business and how viewing cities as engineering systems means it can help local authorities and other organi...

"They make it feel like it's your fault," says Cath Wohlers about loan sharks. They use manipulation, isolation and coercive control and ruin lives. Earlier this year a Centre for Social Justice report estimated 1.08 million people in England alone are currently using illegal moneylenders, who prey on financially vulnerable people. Cath is LIAISE Manager for the England Illegal Money Lending Team....

Danny Kruger MP answers questions from Responsible Finance CEO, Theodora Hadjimichael: How can Government stimulate a boom in the social economy? Danny has described the role of social enterprises in "fixing broken markets" – what does he mean by broken markets? How can social enterprises address them? Banks and tech companies invest heavily in CDFIs (community development finance institutions) in...

Can business be a force for good? Definitely, according David Hanney, CEO of Alpkit, a business and certified B Corp which designs and sources outdoor clothing, camping equipment, bikes and other gear. Alpkit sells direct-to-consumers through its website and its stores in the UK. It now has more than 100 employees – 6 years ago there were just 12. It's a great business in many ways, as David expla...

Imagine yourself on a zero-hours contract, leaving home early in the morning to deliver a sports therapy session. By the time you've spent several hours travelling to the place which booked the session - at your own expense - it's been cancelled. And you don't get paid. Now imagine making that journey in a wheelchair. Carrying a heavy bag in your teeth. And imagine when the session is not cancelle...

In one of the worst-offending industries for landfill and modern slavery, Kalopsia proves you can make products more ethically and minimise environmental impact. A batch manufacturer of textiles, apparel and accessories, Kalopsia is a social enterprise which started as an artistic collective and morphed into a textile producing community interest company. It makes exciting products (including for...

Glasgow Wood Recycling transforms reclaimed wood which could otherwise be wasted into high quality furniture and products.   The social enterprise and charity, launched in 2006, follows the Community Wood Recycling model. It has made furniture from reclaimed timber for a diverse range of customers from the public to hotels, boutique wedding venues, retail outlets, and schools. The business has pre...

Want to invest in an organisation supporting under-served businesses and disadvantaged communities - and be rewarded with an attractive tax relief for doing so? Community Investment Tax Relief is the answer, according to Katy Ford, chief executive of Foundation East. Foundation East lends to and supports small businesses unable to access mainstream finance. Their CITR Investors can receive up to 2...

What is Open Banking and how can it help people who are financially vulnerable and financially excluded, including people who are unbanked? How can Open Banking benefit businesses, social enterprises and the self-employed? How will Open Banking help Responsible Finance providers (and credit unions) – and what should they be doing and thinking about? And is there a danger that Open Banking might fa...

The Magic Roundabout, banknotes you had to write your name on, micro-lending in 1542 and slurping up energy to create cryptocurrency. There's plenty to think about in this new episode. Danyal Sattar is Chief Executive of Big Issue Invest, which span out of The Big Issue magazine. Big Issue Invest is a responsible finance provider which provides finance from £10,000 to £3m to social enterprises and...

From kitchen table business to employer of ten and featured on the front page of national newspapers: BeeBee Wraps makes compostable food-wrappers from organic cotton, tree resin, British beeswax and organic jojoba oil. Founder Kath Austin launched BeeBee Wraps when she wanted to minimise her own family's use of plastic and became curious about how people kept food fresh before clingfilm. In this...

Neil Kadagathur is CEO and co-founder of Creditspring, which he describes as a "new type of credit product designed for people with limited savings specifically for unexpected expenses." Creditspring launched in September 2018 and at the time of recording this podcast has 1000 members. Neil describes how the product works, the motivations behind setting it up, his opinions of the payday loans indu...

Jennifer Tankard interviews Cliff Rosenthal who has been an influential leader in the United States' community finance movement for two decades. Cliff is the author of the new book, Democratizing Finance - Origins of the Community Development Financial Institutions Movement. In this fascinating and wide ranging discussion, Jennifer asks Cliff about: • the origins of the movement since Benjamin Fra...