Member Article

Ethical lender wins top accolade at national credit awards

A Durham-based charity that works with social housing providers to help tenants access loans for vital household goods is celebrating success in a national award win.

Smarterbuys Stores won the 2020 Diversity and Inclusion award at the CICM Credit Awards beating off stiff competition from institutions such as Aggregate Industries UK Ltd, DWF Law LLP, JLL, and Kingston University.

Managing director Vicky McCourt, who helped establish Smarterbuys Stores as a charity in 2016 in a partnership between an ethical community bank and an established housing association, took the top prize in the category at the ceremony held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London this month, the first awards the not-for-profit charity had entered.

Ms McCourt said: “I feel so proud of what we have achieved and of my team for getting the recognition like this at such a prestigious event.

“We entered as we were so proud of being an ethical lender and caring about our customers and staff and this prize is going to make a huge difference to encouraging more to come to us as well as increasing our brand identity in the industry.”

The CICM is the largest recognised professional body in the world for the credit community.

The British Credit Awards were launched eight years ago as a platform to celebrate the achievements of the most deserving individuals, teams and organisations in the international credit industry.

The judges said of Smarterbuys Stores that it was, ‘a charity that ticks all the boxes in its support of diversity and inclusion’.

Originally designed to give social housing tenants access to cheaper credit for white goods, TVs and furniture, last year Smarterbuys Stores extended its offering to work with all consumers on lower incomes, sparking a 50% increase in demand for its service.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Smarterbuys Store .