How fair finance boosts businesses, supercharges social enterprises and helps households with Eleanor Russell

Do we want to live in places full of thriving businesses and social enterprises, and where people don't get trapped by exploitative lenders and loan sharks? Sounds good to me.

Eleanor Russell is policy and programmes lead at Responsible Finance, which represents the UK's social purpose lenders (community development finance institutions, CDFIs). Their work has been covered extensively by media including the Guardian, Financial Times, BBC, Mail Online and elsewhere. 

I work with Responsible Finance and invited Eleanor on to discuss new figures about the social, economic and environmental impact unlocked by CDFIs, through increasing access to finance for people, businesses and social enterprises otherwise excluded from finance for a variety of reasons.

This £248m sector worked with nearly 95,000 customers in 2022 – a 22% leap on the year before – creating and supporting thousands of businesses and jobs, and helping households avoid millions in interest compared with higher-cost lenders. Eleanor gives us more details.

Also in this episode:

• Events:  Games Careers Week, from 19-25 June, which celebrates diverse pathways into a career in games for young people of all backgrounds; StartUp Meetup Sheffield on 30 May, and a "lunch with Claire Rimmer" event at Theatre Deli,  Arley Street, Sheffield, via the Social Enterprise Exchange programme. Claire is head of Operations at Sheffield-based creative arts organisation, CADS.
• Funding and support, including:
• Accelerating FemTech, an initiative aiming to support innovators to boost the development of technology solutions to address current challenges in women’s health. Learn more and apply here.
• The Power to Change Community Business Trade Up programme (open now, deadline 26 June, details here) and the Discovery Fund (which opens for applications on 1 June and closes on 21 July 2023, details here).
• UK SMEs can apply to Innovate UK's Future Economy investor partnerships, (deadline 5 July 2023,, guidance and details here).
• An interview originally broadcast in March with David Hanney, CEO of Alpkit, a business which has thrived after CDFI finance.

Timings:

• 0- 2:55 Introduction
• 2:55 New interview with Eleanor Russell
• 15:29 Interview with David Hanney, CEO, Alpkit (recorded in March 2023)
• 34:02 Events
• 37:03 Support and funding for SMEs and social and community businesses
• 40:42 Wrapping up