Triodos sees 73 per cent growth in ethical business banking
Elaine Brass
20th January 2010
Ethical bank, Triodos, loaned more money than ever to UK businesses in 2009, with lending and commitments growing by 73 per cent.
The
bank, which only finances organisations that deliver social, environmental or cultural benefits, loaned nearly £250 million last year.
Environmental
businesses were a particularly strong growth area for the bank in 2009, with lending to the sector rising almost 30 per cent to £73 million, and lending and commitments growing over 200 per cent. The bank has committed a further £50 million already to the sector in 2010.
Triodos said that the main growth area in this sector was in
onshore wind energy and
waste processing facilities. Its expanded environmental lending team financed a number of high profile developments,including the bank's first two UK in-vessel-composting projects. One of these was Agrivert, an Oxfordshire-based waste management company, which thanks to the Triodos lending facility it has secured can now process 35,000 tonnes of domestic food and garden waste every year.
Lending to
farming and
food sectors was another growth area for the bank, with lending up in 2009 by 14 per cent to over £52 million. Organic farming was the largest growth area within this sector at 30 per cent, giving Triodos nearly 250 loans totalling over £32 million to organic farms.
Lending in Scotland grew by 54 per cent in 2009 to £37 million, while in Wales, lending and commitments grew by 44 per cent. The Welsh loan book now totals over £20 million for the first time, with onshore wind being the largest area of growth.
Dr Bevis Watts, Triodos Bank’s head of Business Banking, described the 73 per cent growth as "phenomenal".
He added: "Several factors have fuelled the growth, including Triodos’ strong position and ability to lend, and increasing demand for sustainable banking. We’ve also seen continued growth in several of our core markets, and have diversified into key new environmental and social markets. These are growth areas and we expect to significantly increase our lending in 2010.”
Triodos Bank’s full international results will be available in April 2010.