About us

Why we exist

We want everyone to be able to access the financial products and services they need throughout their life. In tough times many people can turn to financial safety nets like savings, credit cards or an overdraft at affordable rates. But for the millions of people in financially vulnerable circumstances these options are often unfairly out of reach.

Today there are 14.2 million people with low financial resilience. That’s more than a quarter of all adults in the UK – a number that’s risen by 3.5 million people since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

45% of UK adults are 91 days away from not being able to cover their living expenses if they lose their current source of income

What do we mean by financially vulnerable circumstances?

Essentially, we define vulnerability in the same terms as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), where a vulnerable customer is someone who, due to their personal circumstances, is especially susceptible to harm.

Everyone is at risk of becoming vulnerable at some point during their lives. This risk is increased by characteristics of vulnerability related to four keys drivers:

Health

this could be ongoing physical or mental health issues for you or loved ones, sudden health needs or simply ageing ailments that affect ability to carry out day to day tasks

Life events

anything from birth and bereavement to a relationship breakdown or losing your job

Resilience

low ability to cope with financial or emotional shocks, including lack of savings and insurance safety nets or low emotional resilience

Capability

this spans financial knowledge, your ability to pay for things, future planning, environmental and income factors

Evidence suggests that those in the most vulnerable circumstances are impacted by each of these drivers. And that these drivers will shape customers’ needs over the whole of their financial lives.

Who we serve

Millions of people are living with the daily realities of financial exclusion. Those in financially vulnerable circumstances aren’t spread evenly across the country – they are concentrated in some of the most deprived regions, hardest hit by the growing cost of living crisis and facing dwindling options as traditional finance providers struggle or exit the market altogether.

While we’re all capable of becoming financially vulnerable, our research shows that certain circumstances make some people more likely to face financial exclusion*:

20%

The majority of the people we support live in the most deprived 20% of areas of the country, based on the Index of Multiple Deprivation

35%

35% are lone parents with dependent children, compared to 9% of the overall UK population

58%

58% are social housing tenants, compared to 17% of the overall population in England

*Estimated data from sources including Statistica, Gov.uk, Office for National Statistics and reports from various community finance providers

The Covid-19 pandemic has delivered uneven outcomes too. While many have been able to save more, lots of families have seen their savings eroded. Since March 2020, 11m people have accumulated £25b of debt to pay for essentials.*

Those who can least afford it have been hit the hardest – women, people from certain minority and ethnic communities and those already in financially vulnerable circumstances.

*StepChange, Covid Debt Rescue

Our strategy

Financial exclusion and low financial resilience are key barriers to opportunity. Yet with access to fair and affordable financial products and services, everyday life events or financial shocks can be managed.

Our role is to level up financial inclusion. We want to see well designed financial products and services that better respond to people’s needs and support their financial wellbeing.

We’ve prioritised three key areas for our work:

Expanding the provision of affordable credit

Partnering with banks and financial services providers to increase provision of services

Developing new products and services to address market gaps

Everything we do is focused on whether we’re changing the financial services system for the better – so that the whole sector provides financially inclusive products and services in a sustainable way.

Who we are

We are a passionate team of ex-financial folk, social sector investors, social and not for profit activists, ex-government bodies, media and researchers who are all now specialists in financial inclusion. Together we share a passion for financial inclusion and a unified vision to deliver our mission:

Our vision

Is a society where the long term financial wellbeing of all people is supported by a fair and accessible financial services sector.

Our mission

Is to increase the financial resilience and wellbeing of people in vulnerable circumstances by increasing the availability of fair and accessible financial products and services.

How were we founded

We were founded in 2019 through the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to tackle the issue of financial inclusion.

Our funding comes from The Dormant Assets Scheme. The scheme is led by the financial industry and backed by the UK government. This makes it possible for money in dormant bank and building society accounts to be used to help good causes.

While our funding is for England, we seek to collaborate across all four nations where possible.

Gov.uk Dormant Assets Scheme

Meet the team

CEO

Kate Pender
Kate Pender >
CEO, Fair4All Finance

Leadership Team

Becky Claydon >
Director of People
Diane Burridge
Diane Burridge >
Interim Director of Innovation and Development, Fair4All Finance
Holly Piper
Holly Piper >
Director of Funding and Investment, Fair4All Finance
Kate Pender
Kate Pender >
CEO, Fair4All Finance
Lauren Peel
Lauren Peel >
Director of Marketing, Consumer Insights and Propositions, Fair4All Finance
Premila Sattianayagam >
Director of Finance and Operations
Sarah Porretta
Sarah Porretta >
Deputy CEO, Fair4All Finance
Tom Lake >
Director of Policy and Strategy

Operations

Becky Claydon >
Director of People
Claire Groom >
Executive Assistant
Monica Mitchell-Dale
Monica Mitchell-Dale >
Senior Finance and Operations Officer
Premila Sattianayagam >
Director of Finance and Operations
Selma Elgaziari >
Delivery Lead

Funding, finance and investment

Ania Soleimani
Ania Soleimani >
Investment Associate
Craig Pennington
Craig Pennington >
Associate Director – Investments
Emma Selinger >
Investment Portfolio Manager
Holly Piper
Holly Piper >
Director of Funding and Investment, Fair4All Finance
Naheed Hassan
Naheed Hassan >
Investment Associate
Nard Duin
Nard Duin >
Investment Manager
Usama Yusuf
Usama Yusuf >
Investment Associate
Vince Cox >
Community Finance Engagement Manager

Innovation and development

Diane Burridge
Diane Burridge >
Interim Director of Innovation and Development, Fair4All Finance
Elle Crossley
Elle Crossley >
Reporting and Insights Analyst
Ellie Suckling
Ellie Suckling >
Consumer Insights Manager
Emma Salisbury >
Programme Delivery Manager
Jonathan Booth (JB)
Jonathan Booth (JB) >
Head of Technology Programmes
Jonathan Turner
Jonathan Turner >
Technology Strategy and Innovations Lead, Fair4All Finance
Julieta Pasijoff >
Programme Associate
Kate Pender
Kate Pender >
CEO, Fair4All Finance
Laura Crow >
Senior Programme Manager, Propositions, Fair4All Finance
Laura Kaye
Laura Kaye >
Programme Manager – Growth and Development
Lauren Peel
Lauren Peel >
Director of Marketing, Consumer Insights and Propositions, Fair4All Finance
Len Casely
Len Casley >
Associate Director Commercial
Paul Hollowday >
Associate Director – Commercial
Tamar Jokhadze >
Programme Manager, Growth and Development
Tnya Seeley
Tanya Seeley >
Associate Director Commercial

Systems change and impact

Alejandro Gasteazoro >
Social Research Associate
Ayesha Begum >
Senior Manager, Strategy and Impact, Fair4All Finance
Diana Kamil-Salmon >
Head of Engagement, Fair4All Finance
Fionn Sharpe
Fionn Sharpe >
Senior Policy and Public Affairs Manager
Jake Attfield
Jake Attfield >
Head of Strategy
James Corke
James Corke >
Strategic Communications Senior Manager
Jodie Cross >
Corporate Impact and Engagement Manager
Max Holloway >
Content and Communications Associate
Niall Alexander >
Credit and Consumer Markets Lead, Fair4All Finance
Sarah Porretta
Sarah Porretta >
Deputy CEO, Fair4All Finance
Temi Odesanya
Temi Odesanya >
Community Engagement Manager
Tom Lake >
Director of Policy and Strategy

Our Board

Faith Reynolds, Fair4All Finance Board Member
Faith Reynolds >
Non-executive Director
Fozia Irfan
Fozia Irfan OBE >
Non-executive Director
Ingrid Kukuljan
Ingrid Kukuljan >
Non-executive Director
James Invine, Board Member Fair4All Finance
James Invine >
Non-executive Director
Jennifer Rademaker
Jennifer Rademaker >
Non-executive Director
Joanna Elson
Joanna Elson CBE >
Non-executive Director
Linda Stevens >
Company Secretary
Lukas Mandangu >
Independent non-executive member of the Finance, Grants and Investment Committee
Mike Anderson
Mike Anderson >
Non-executive Director
Ria Bailes
Ria Bailes >
Non-executive Director
Richard-Collier-Keywood
Richard Collier-Keywood OBE >
Chair
Sir Leigh Lewis
Sir Leigh Lewis KCB >
Senior Independent Director
Tina Kokkinos >
Independent non-executive member of the Audit and Risk Committee

Job vacancies

Our values

Fair

We’re impartial, open and rigorous in making sure our work has the right impact. We share a strong sense of fairness and we’re determined to make the system work better for everyone.

Inclusive

We value diversity and difference. We also recognise the financial system has a disproportionate impact on those excluded, so we’ll work doubly hard to ensure their voices and insights are reflected in our team and inform our work.

Bold

The problems we’re tackling require bold solutions and we won’t shy away from being radical. We’re prepared to take considered risks in order to make a difference.

Compassionate

We believe in treating everyone with dignity and respect, and we work with empathy to consider the needs of everyone we interact with. We take care in communicating the hard choices we’ll inevitably have to make.

Collaborative

We know we can’t change the system on our own and we don’t have all the answers. So we work in partnership with inspiring organisations as together we’re stronger.