Corporate responsibility. Is it part of your firm's DNA? Provident Personal Credit 'Good Neighbour' programme reaches milestone

Provident Personal Credit's 'Good Neighbour' programme reached a milestone at the end of last year, with the firm having provided support to over 500 organisations over the past three years, highlighting their commitment to corporate responsibility.

In addition, 'Good Neighbour' has provided backing and support to in excess of 30 three year projects, with over 20,000 people benefitting from project and volunteering support.

Peter Crook, CEO at Provident Financial, said: "When asked, as I often am, about how we manage our Corporate Responsibility programme, I say it's part of our DNA. It's a fundamental part of our business strategy and plays a key role in our long-term success."

Established in 2009, Good Neighbour is Provident Financial’s flagship community programme. It helps fulfil Provident's ambition to be the UK's leading community-based lender by creating opportunities for people to work side by side with its community partners. 'Good Neighbour' has three component strands:

- Supporting local projects: working in partnership with local community organisations, the 'Good Neighbour' programme delivers projects which are tailored to meet the needs of local residents. Most projects run over a three-year period, with opportunities available to deliver smaller, one-off projects too.

- Employee volunteering: 'Good Neighbour' supports employees participating in company-led volunteering projects, including one-to-one mentoring projects, the Provident Reading Scheme and team challenges.

- Employee matched giving: Provident wants to help its employees to support the causes they care about the most. Employees taking part in fundraising activities or volunteering in their local communities can apply for matched giving and volunteering grants to make their contribution go even further. Over 1,750 employees have been involved so far and community partners have reported more people are now accessing their services.

Each community partner is selected carefully to ensure that every project is delivered to a high standard and provides real benefits for the community. Provident wants to work with a wide range of organisations, including youth clubs, community groups and schools, so that it can reach people of all ages, from toddlers to pensioners, and address their specific needs.

FACTFILE:
Provident Personal Credit is a  financial services company operating in the non-standard loans market. It specialises in offering cash loans of small amounts, typically from £50 - £500 over terms from 14 weeks up to 106 weeks. Its short term loans are unsecured and all of the costs are included up front which means that customers will never be charged for a missed or late payment. When assessing loan applications, Provident Personal Credit look at the applicants ability to repay now rather than their payment history.

This means that people could still be accepted for a loan even if they think they may have bad credit.

Repayments are collected by agents who visit their customers' homes on a weekly basis. The company has a good reputation with 95% of their customers saying that they are satisfied with their service.

What's more, it is a great alternative to payday loans with small and manageable weekly repayments.

Provident Personal Credit Ltd is a part of the Provident Financial Group. It is licensed by the Office of Fair Trading.

(EDITOR: Whilst most businesses are not in a position to offer the levels of support that Provident Personal Credit can offer, any firm will be able to provide some sort of help, even if it means just buying a copy of The big Issue every time it is published, or having a stall at local village fêtes, or the like.)

Supreme Finance increases lending budget for commercial loans

A successful bridging finance company, Supreme Finance has announced that it will be extending their lending limit to £5 million per borrower. This increases the amount of opportunities available for the commercial borrower drastically. 

 

The specialist bridging lender has secured a separate funding line with Blue water Corporation which offers an initial facility of £50 million pounds which will grow over the course of the next 12 months to £100M.

As bridging loans become increasingly popular in this modern age of recession, Supreme are once again leading the way for others to follow suit. Unlike brokers, Supreme Finance only lend money which is their own, making them one of the largest and reputable principal lenders in the nation.

The loans available for commercial borrowers and developers are ideal for an individual or company whom wishes to purchase property to sell or rent out at an auction. Such terms of auction finance involve a staggering 24 hour decision time, with the money being transferred at 48 hours.

Other benefits of attaining property finance from Supreme Finance are that this process is a very quick and easy one. They give people and companies a like the potential to become cash buyers with the financial backing and support necessary.

This becomes the ideal short-term solution to funding projects such as refurbishments and enhancements and provides borrowers with quick decisions and timely payments. As this is much faster than mortgage lenders, Supreme Finance are demonstrating why obtaining a bridging loan is a much more viable option for many.

The increased lending limit gives property developers an extended amount of commercial finance, (helping them to secure large property portfolio’s) aiding them in the implementation of large scale housing, such as a block of flats or apartments.

The standard of excellence that is set by Supreme Finance is renowned across the UK and parts of Europe. This organisation of expert investors has been assisting the build and restoration of many homes, in Great Britain and have been driven towards a goal of changing the financial and property market to be adaptable around this modern day. Few principle lenders have as much understanding with their clients as Supreme Finance, which is why they are continuously seeking to create innovative methods of aiding developments and the financial budget.

The darkened days of the recession has forced bankers to refuse the financial aid that so many companies need, and this has created a flux in the development market. Without Supreme Finance, many enhancement projects would become moribund and dwindle until the idea is merely a dream. Fortunately, Supreme has been established and are currently leading the way for other lenders to follow suit. The increasingly high lending limit has brought with it a surge of development projects and hope for people and companies that they may not otherwise have had.

Supreme Finance Ltd
58 Swan Street
Manchester,
M4 5JU
t: +44 (0) 161 834 2288
 f: +44 (0) 161 832 6067
e: enquiries@supreme-finance.com|
www.supreme-finance.com

Aldermore and Hitachi Capital extend a further helping hand to hard-pressed house buyers

New British bank Aldermore is once again extending a helping hand to hard-pressed house buyers via the launch of a new scheme which requires borrowers to raise only a 5% cash deposit.

The scheme, initially marketed via Barratt Homes (including David Wilson Homes and Ward Homes), combines an Aldermore 80% LTV two-year fixed rate mortgage with up to a 15% LTV unsecured loan provided by Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC to cover part of the required deposit. House buyers therefore only have to raise a 5% cash deposit of their own. Further product details are provided in the notes to editors.

Charles Haresnape, Managing Director of Aldermore Residential Mortgages, said: “We are committed to helping struggling home-buyers find solutions to problems which continue to prevent them from owning property of their own.

“The single biggest issue holding back perfectly creditworthy house buyers is their inability to raise a sufficiently large deposit. Aldermore’s recently launched Family Guarantee Mortgage provides an option for borrowers seeking a 100% loan and this scheme gives those who can raise a 5% cash deposit yet another route to home ownership.

“We are providing would-be homeowners with choices, in a market where the options for those with less than a 25% deposit are few and far between.”

Gerald Grimes, Managing Director, Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC, said: “Would-be home buyers have become disheartened with the current housing market because of the large deposits demanded by a lot of lenders. Last year we teamed up with Barratt Homes to offer parents the opportunity to help their children onto the ladder; this year we are opening up this innovative product to the buyers directly. Initially this will be with Barratt Homes but we will be rolling it out through other house builders, such as Linden Homes, part of Galliford Try plc and Keepmoat Homes.

“If the housing market is to fully recover, the issue of deposits needs to be tackled head on. In light of this, I am delighted to be working with Barratt Homes as well as Aldermore to bring a pioneering new product to help stimulate the UK property market”

Earlier this month Aldermore became the first national lender since the onset of the credit crunch to offer a 100% LTV mortgage underpinned by a parental guarantee. Aldermore markets a range of residential and buy-to-let mortgages via regulated intermediaries. Unlike most other lenders, Aldermore’s decision-making is not dependent on credit scoring but is based on sensible underwriting rules and criteria applied by experienced staff.

Full information about Aldermore’s products including rates, criteria and a downloadable product guide, are available at: www.aldermore-mortgages.co.uk or brokers can contact Aldermore on 0333 3211000.