‘Circle of good’ making a difference for Leith-based community bank

2023 has been a year of exceptional growth for Castle Community Bank headquartered in Leith. At the AGM it was reported that total membership has grown to over 46,000 at September 2023.

Chief Executive Adrian Sargent said: “I’m proud of our team, and the growth that we have achieved this year. We remain focussed on our social purpose of supporting communities, whilst helping our members to maximise their savings and manage debt as effectively as possible.

At the same time, our overall current Trustpilot rating of 4.8/5 shows we are getting the day-to-day experience right for our membership.”

Castle Community Bank aims to achieve sustainability through scale and is on track to do so with total assets now equal to £283m, making them one of the largest credit unions in the UK. Deposits have grown to £247m in 2023 and the loan book has increased to £225m in 2023.

Castle Community Bank Chair, Stephen Pearson said: “I like to think of our operating model as a ‘circle of good’.

“Savers like our top quartile interest rates and easy online joining process. Many of them also like the fact that we make their money go further by funding our affordable loan products, enabling people who struggle to access loans from mainstream banks to borrow what they need at affordable rates.

“In turn, prudent, commercial success enables us to grow our community programmes in Edinburgh and beyond: including providing debt advice support, sustainable food bank funding and ethical investment for charities and churches.

“Castle Community Bank is leading the way in expanding the credit union movement in the UK, delivering strong and sustainable growth, underpinned by sound risk management.”

The Scottish credit union was established in 2015 following the merger of two long established credit unions: Castle and North Edinburgh (above), along with the members of the Water of Leith Credit Union Study Group.

The study group was set up with the aim of establishing a Credit Union in Leith.

The difference between credit unions or mutuals and high street banks is they are owned and run by members, instead of shareholders, creating a shared financial community across the UK, which is accessible to everyone.