ESG in the Banking Sector
Discover how Shawbrook Bank is shaping a Sustainable Future by funding Impactful Projects
ESG introduces both challenges and opportunities for the banking sector. We engaged with Shawbrook Bank, one of our clients, to discuss their approach to ESG. Joanna Grobel, Chief of Staff and Shawbrook's ESG Strategy Lead, shared her insights on how they are navigating these waters.
Delivering long-term sustainable value for all of our stakeholders is a core strategic priority at Shawbrook. Our ESG strategy is a tangible expression of our purpose, and the Board is committed to embedding sustainability across the organisation.
From playing our part in addressing the climate challenge, developing new homes to help mitigate the chronic housing shortage in the UK, to continuing to give back to the communities in which we operate through various programmes, our ESG strategy presents us with significant opportunity to make a difference.
Setting our climate strategy during 2022, including our ambition to become a net zero organisation by 2050 and initial measurement of financed emissions in our mortgage portfolios. Publishing our first climate-related financial disclosures for FY2022, a year before it was mandatory, reflecting the progress made. Collaboration with Saracens Foundation, the charitable arm of Saracens, on the Empower Her project. Now in its third year, supporting over 40 young women, the project aims to inspire the next generation of future female leaders through sport.
Continue to improve diversity metrics across our focus areas, including Women in Finance target of 30% of women in senior roles by the end of September 2024. Successful launch and roll-out of our refreshed charitable and communities strategy, including increasing staff engagement in community and giving activities. Further embed climate considerations across our corporate DNA and enhance carbon footprint data quality and coverage, as we continue to work towards our net zero targets (2035 for our own operations and 2050 as an organisation).
Yes! Driven by our purpose and enabled by our commitment to provide specialist finance solutions to segments often underserved by mainstream lenders, we are active in a number of markets that can deliver a positive impact on society.
In SME, our speciality finance proposition provides a range of wholesale funding facilities and services to non-bank lenders across a range of sectors and asset classes including Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) and the healthcare sector. We aim to finance sustainable projects that address or mitigate a specific social issue, helping to achieve a positive social outcome. For example, during 2023, the CDFIs we worked with supported consumers with guidance, signposting or loans, replacing high-cost credit with fairer and more affordable finance.
Through The Mortgage Lender and Bluestone Mortgages, both wholly owned subsidiaries, we provide mortgages to first time borrowers and those with complex incomes to help them to buy their own homes, often customers who may otherwise have been locked out of the traditional mortgage market. We also offer a discounted EPC product for landlords who own energy efficient properties, supporting a just transition towards a sustainable rental housing market, benefiting both landlords and tenants alike.
Shawbrook provides finance to a wide range of customer segments that value the premium experience, flexibility, and certainty it delivers. With a focus on delivering long-term sustainable value for all stakeholders, Shawbrook’s diversified offering includes innovative lending propositions tailored to meet specific customer needs across selected SME, Real Estate and Personal markets.
