We gathered with customers, staff, partners and investors for the official launch of our online lending platform yesterday. The Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Cllr Ray Hassal, was also present and spoke of the importance of social enterprises to society, mentioning the amount of people helped by those every day.
Here are 3 quotes from our speakers that highlight the key messages of the day:
“In the 16 years of our existence, we have advanced around £15 million. In the context of the nation’s economy, that’s peanuts, but in the context of the lives of those we helped, that’s a huge impact.” John Tackaberry, Chairman, Street UK
“It is now important for Street UK to make an even greater impact and so we have decided to bring our expertise to the online market. Our goal is to demonstrate that it is possible to provide access to affordable credit online.” Martin Hockly, CEO Street UK
“There was an increase in the recognition of the abusive rates charged by payday lenders, which led to the introduction of the FCA Price Cap in 2015. With Street UK Online, we want to prove it’s possible to charge below the cap.” Rev Philip Krinks, Chairman of St. Martin’s Affordable Finance Development
Martin and Philip presented facts about Street UK, St. Martin’s and the partnership between both, as well as some very interesting data about the people Street UK helped over the past 16 years. You can see the presentation slides below: