UCIT wins prestigious Community Development Finance award
UCIT has been crowned the winner of a new national award showcasing the most innovative community finance providers in the UK.
Community development finance institutions (CDFIs) lend money to businesses, social enterprises and individuals who struggle to access finance from other sources or who are vulnerable to high interest and illegal lenders.
CDFIs provide creative and innovative services to their clients. To recognise, celebrate and share this innovation, the organisation which represents providers of community finance – the Community Development Finance Association (CDFA) – organised a national Innovation Awards scheme showcasing ‘best in class’ community finance.
The Winners were announced at a ceremony in London on 31st January. Sponsored by Barclays, the awards attracted impressive entries from CDFIs all over the UK.
UCIT picked up the award for Innovation in Marketing through the organisation's expansion into the Republic of Ireland.
To enable the organisation to enter the Republic of Ireland market, UCIT established a partnership that would secure financial support to deliver a cross-border training and mentoring programme, the culmination of which was the first all-island trade event for social enterprises. UCIT identifed partners, attracted funding and delivered business support to social enterprises in both jurisdictions, enabling the organisation to build its profile in the export market. Once the NetWORKS programme had been running successfully for a number of years, UCIT had built a presence in the export market and trained a number of enterprises to be investment ready, hence establishing a ready made market for UCIT core services.
The initiative has been a success. Concurrent to the NetWORKS initiative, UCIT negotiated terms with a funding partner in Dublin, the Social Finance Foundation, to attract wholesale capital that UCIT can use to make investments in the Republic of Ireland. As a result of this partnership and building on the platform that the NetWORKS Initiative built, UCIT has now invested over 3.8 million euros into 20 projects in the Republic of Ireland. The Trust expects to expand operations in the ROI and sanction a further £2.4m in 2012.
CDFA’s chief executive Ben Hughes said:
“There is an enormously exciting future for the community finance sector. I see our members as the powerhouse behind economic growth, providing small enterprises and citizens currently denied access to mainstream finance with access to a range of finance services that can prove life changing.
“I’m delighted that our inaugural Innovation Awards attracted such a strong range of entries from community finance providers. I congratulate the Award winners for their achievements and truly innovative approaches which are a shining example of CDFIs’ determination to improve their offer to local communities.”
Steve Cooper, Managing Director, Products and Segments, UK Retail and Business Banking at Barclays said:
“Barclays work with community development finance institutions across the UK and recognise the huge contribution they make to the local economy. We are delighted that these awards highlight the importance of the work they do and the winning CDFIs demonstrated a real passion that has set them apart from the rest with innovative ideas that contribute to their sustainability and growth.”
