Bradley Welcomes Aldermore Bank To Challenger Banks And Building Societies Group
Rt Hon. Karen Bradley MP has welcomed Aldermore Bank has an Associate Member of the APPG on Challenger Banks and Building Societies.
The APPG is a cross-party group of MPs and Peers that seeks to inform parliamentarians about the challenger banks and building societies sector, the issues and challengers facing them, and to promote diversity within the sector.
Rt Hon. Karen Bradley commented:
“I’m delighted to welcome Aldermore as an Associate Member of the APPG. Aldermore is one of the biggest names in the challenger bank sector and it is fantastic to have them on board.
“As the latest challenger bank to throw its weight behind the work of the group, it is joining at an exciting time, with a series of reports on aspects of regulation planned for 2021. Aldermore’s insight will be invaluable for the future work of the APPG. They are a key voice in the challenger bank sector and have experience of growing a new bank from a start-up to a billion-pound business.
“It is a particularly challenging time for everyone in the sector, but the APPG has continued to work hard to ensure parliamentarians from all sides understand the needs of challenger banks and can help the whole UK financial services sector to diversify and flourish.
“2020 has been an extremely busy year for the APPG. We’ve been working on a range of reports form the diversity of institutions to access to banking as well as trying to assess the impact of COVID on the sector. There is much work still to be done but and the support of Aldermore will be hugely beneficial to the output of the APPG in 2021.”
Phillip Monks, CEO of Aldermore said:
“We’re delighted to support the challenger bank’s voice in Parliament, especially in what is likely to be a significant period of continued reform and change for the finance sector. I founded Aldermore in 2009 during the financial crisis as the first of a new breed of challenger banks when I saw many established lenders retreating from supporting businesses that were well run and profitable but who needed capital and financial help to grow.
The finance sector has come a long way in the last decade but the challenger bank movement in the UK has more to do. Most challenger and specialist banks are still only able to compete with each other in around 20% of the market whilst 80% is with the four or five main high street banks. However, what the Covid-19 crisis has shown is that UK businesses and consumers need a future with a truly competitive and diverse financial sector. Given the current appetite within Government and regulators to engage around reform, we believe this APPG will be an invaluable voice for challenger and specialist banks in the debates that lie ahead.”
Notes to editors
Aldermore was established in 2009 by founder and CEO Phillip Monks OBE. It was the first of a new breed of challenger bank that provides financing to back UK small and medium sized enterprises (“SMEs”), supports investors and homebuyers with mortgage finance, while offering a dynamic online savings proposition. The Bank services customers and intermediary partners predominantly online and by phone. Aldermore’s purpose is to back people to fulfil their hopes and dreams and is part of the FirstRand Group, the largest financial services group in Africa by market capitalisation.
The All Party Group on Challenger Banks and Building Societies is a cross-party group of MPs and Peers chaired by Rt. Hon Karen Bradley MP that seeks to inform parliamentarians of all parties about the challenger banks and building societies sector, the issues and challengers facing them, and to promote diversity within the sector. It has recently published the results of an inquiry into Diversity of Financial Institutions in the UK and a survey of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on institutions.