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Leon Kaye headshot

Lloyds Banking Group Strives to Help the UK Prosper

By Leon Kaye
Lloyds-Banking-Group.jpg

With a history dating back to the late 17th century, Lloyds Banking Group of the United Kingdom now boasts over 27 million customers and manages assets worth well over $1 trillion (over £800).

And according to Lloyds, the bank is doing what it can to help the UK prosper well into the 21st century. This week, the company released its latest corporate social responsibility report, which Lloyds prefers to call its “Helping Britain Prosper Plan.”

The report’s highlights include an ambitious agenda for the rest of this decade, as well as an assessment of how the bank performed on its corporate social responsibility goals over the past three years.

In sum, Lloyds' executives are confident that it has made an impact across British society. For 2017, the company says it achieved 21 out of 22 targets - falling short only on a goal it had for loans it sought to provide to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

But across the board, Lloyds insists it has made a difference. Over $18 billion (£13 billion) was loaned by the bank to first-time home buyers. The company says its support benefitted at least 124,000 startup businesses. And the bank’s various charitable foundations provided funds for over 2,800 nonprofits. Lloyds has also made mental health a focal point of its corporate giving efforts - over $6.7 million (£4.8 million) was distributed to various foundations and services.

And more is to come. Beyond lending efforts such as those made to first-time home buyers and startups, Lloyds says it is keen on improving financial literacy nationwide - with 1.8 million more people to benefit from such skills by the end of this decade. Internally, the company appears determined to make its workforce look like the new, modern Britain - with a pledge to have 40 percent of its senior roles held by women, and 10 percent by racial minorities. Add the company’s commitment to stop human rights and slavery abuses, and the result is a template for how banks can leverage their core competencies to help build a better society.

Want to tell the world about your new CR report? ReportAlert has developed the largest network of corporate responsibility stakeholders available globally – let them help you to spread the word.

Image credit: Elliot Brown/Flickr

Leon Kaye headshot

Leon Kaye has written for 3p since 2010 and become executive editor in 2018. His previous work includes writing for the Guardian as well as other online and print publications. In addition, he's worked in sales executive roles within technology and financial research companies, as well as for a public relations firm, for which he consulted with one of the globe’s leading sustainability initiatives. Currently living in Central California, he’s traveled to 70-plus countries and has lived and worked in South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and Uruguay.

Leon’s an alum of Fresno State, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and the University of Southern California's Marshall Business School. He enjoys traveling abroad as well as exploring California’s Central Coast and the Sierra Nevadas.

Read more stories by Leon Kaye