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Environmental, Social & Governance

Our ESG strategy focuses on five key areas.

"Our organisation wants to deliver value for all stakeholders, and we have a vision, a purpose, and a business strategy that sets out how we will do this. As a business, we are committed to: 'Always act with integrity and transparency to deliver value for all our stakeholders' and our ESG strategy shows how we will achieve that across five focus areas that we have prioritised based on stakeholder feedback."

Chief Executive Officer

Our focus areas

Our ESG strategy sets out the key issues or focus areas that we’ve identified as being important to our stakeholders.

These are linked to our business strategy and our core strengths, as well as being underpinned by our high standards of governance that run through all of our business processes.

Our focus areas also link to the United Nation’s sustainable development goals or SDGs.

It’s all summarised here:

The image is a circular diagram titled "Optimising for Growth", structured with multiple concentric layers. At its core, it highlights key attributes: Specialist, Expert, Diverse, and Ambitious. Surrounding this, the middle ring is divided into five focus areas: Climate Action/Risk, Communities and Charities, Customer Trust, Education and Skills, and ED&I (Equity, Diversity & Inclusion). The outermost ring contains guiding principles that state, "Helping more consumers and businesses to fulfill their ambitions" and "Always acting with integrity and transparency to deliver value for all our stakeholders." The design visually represents a strategic framework that balances expertise, inclusivity, trust, and sustainability.

The image presents a structured overview of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) priorities, aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At the top, "Environmental • Social • Governance" is highlighted, followed by a section titled "Our Priorities", listing key focus areas: Climate Action/Risk, Customer Trust, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (ED&I), Education and Skills, Communities and Charities, and Acting Responsibly. Each priority is linked to specific SDGs, represented by icons. Climate Action/Risk connects to Goals 9, 11, 12, and 13. Customer Trust relates to Goals 8 and 12. ED&I aligns with Goals 3, 4, 5, and 10. Education and Skills correspond to Goals 3, 4, 8, and 11. Communities and Charities are tied to Goals 4, 8, and 11, while Acting Responsibly links to Goal 8. The design visually maps ESG commitments to global sustainability objectives.

Climate Action and Risk

We aim to understand the risks to our business associated with climate change so that we can maintain a strong credit discipline, capital allocation and risk management capabilities that support our specialised lending.

Find out more about Climate Action and Risk


Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Our vision is to be a successful, inclusive business where all our people feel respected and can confidently be themselves and fulfil their potential.

Find out more about Equity, Diversity and Inclusion


Customer Trust

Our aim is to build the trust of our customers through the way we treat them, by enhancing our customers’ experience, achieving high standards of customer service excellence and through the outcomes we enable for them.

Find out more about Customer Trust


Education and Skills

Through our Learning and People Development activities we aim to help all our colleagues build their specialisations, increase their confidence, plan their career progression and make it happen.

Find out more about Education and Skills


Communities and Charity

We aim to make a positive contribution to the communities in which we work and conduct our business.

Find out more about Communities and Charity


Governance

To succeed in the long term, we believe we must have enduring relationships with our stakeholders based on respect, trust and mutual benefit. Our aim is to act with integrity and transparently in everything we do and be responsive to the views of our stakeholders.

Our governance structure enables the Board to oversee the delivery of our strategy as a regulated bank. The Corporate Governance Report in our Annual Report and Accounts explains how we have complied with the UK Corporate Governance Code and more detail on our governance structure can be found by visiting the Governance section.

Awards, Accreditations and Partnerships

LSEG
UK Finance
FSCS
Women in Finance
Business In The Community
Great Place To Work Certified UK
London Institute of Banking & Finance
enei TIDE
Disability Confident Employer
Neurodiversity in Business
Cyber Essentials Plus
Feefo Exceptional Service 2025
Cranfield University
Solihull College and University Centre
Trustpilot
Automotive 30% club
Climate Financial Risk Forum
Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials
Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures
Moneyfacts

If you would like to know more, we'd love to hear from you.

For further information or to send notifications regarding the share capital or your shareholding in Secure Trust Bank, please email the Company Secretary.

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