Yorkshire and Humber has a GDPwhich exceeds £81 billion and isranked amongst the top third of theworld’s national economies. In fact, ithas outpaced the European averagefor the last 5 years. Billions have beenspent on commercial development inthe region with millions earmarked forcurrent projects and those inthe pipeline.

However, despite this economicvibrancy, there are still many socialchallenges that need to be addressed,which is why a robust social economysector is so vital to the region. Voluntaryorganisations, charities and socialenterprises are often the organisationsthat the socially and financiallyexcluded turn to when they are leftbehind by economic expansion. Theseorganisations, many of whom are UnityTrust Bank customers, provide thesocial cohesion that is so important tothe local community.

We continue to support a variety ofcharities and social enterprises in theregion with services ranging from basicbanking to providing loan finance formajor projects.

Yvonne Bramma l l t he Banks ’Development Manager in the region said“I am pleased to have been able to help avariety of charities and social enterprisesin this region with their banking needs. Inparticular I was able to call upon the

experience of the bank’s social economylending team to help develop and fund anumber of their projects.”

The Bank is proud to highlight a fewexamples of the organisations we haveworked with across the region.

Unity supports and banks a varietyof social economy organisationsacross Yorkshire and Humber

Yorkshire &Humber spotlight

1

The Humber Bridge

The Barnsley Alcohol and DrugAdvisory Service (BADAS) had someburning questions to answer – couldthis relatively small charity actuallybuy its own premises? And if so, whodo they talk to about doing just that?The answer to both questions wasprovided by Unity Trust Bank.

Based in Barnsley town centre, BADASis a free and confidential service foranyone concerned about their own, orsomeone else’s drug or alcohol use.

The team includes counsellors, genericdrug and alcohol workers, social workersand nurses.

We asked BADAS’s Lynn Rogers whatmade the charity decide to buy their

own premises. “We have a very busyopen access tier-2 service which meansthat people can refer themselves, or insome cases they can just turn up to askfor advice. We also offer a needleexchange facility. Ideally we wanted torelocate our counselling services to anenvironment where treatment could bedelivered in a more controlled manner,an environment where people canmaximise the opportunities available tomove away from their previousbehaviours. Our first thought was torent, but the nature of our service madeit difficult to find anything suitable.Then we found newly built selfcontained premises which wereavailable to buy or let. And that’s whenthe thought crossed our minds: maybewe should consider buying the freehold.The burning question was, could arelatively small charity like ours actuallybuy its own premises? And if so, who dowe talk to about doing that?”

Eliminate the negative…Lynn learned that a partner organisation ina similar field had purchased freeholdpremises twelve months previouslythrough Unity Trust Bank. So the people atBADAS thought if their colleagues could

do it, they could as well and decided totake the plunge and get in touch withUnity. What particularly impressed Lynnwas that Unity’s Nigel Price immediatelygave them some good advice. His viewwas that as the market was moving soquickly, he suggested that BADAS makean immediate offer for the premises they’dfound. “Nigel’s positive up-beat attitudewas really encouraging and gave us theconfidence to go ahead”, says Lynn.

Unity understood how charitiesare fundedAnother factor that really impressed theBADAS team was Unity’s understandingof the way charities are funded. As Lynnsays, “I wasn’t sure what kind ofreception we’d have got from one of theHigh Street building societies or banks;there was a risk that we could havefinished up paying a higher rate ofinterest simply because of the nature ofour funding. We took great comfort fromthe fact that a well respected bankreassured us that it was perfectly OKfor a small charity to buy its ownpremises. On top of that we had theadded ‘bonus’ of knowing that we were- and are - working with a sociallyresponsible bank.”

The National Autistic Society’s websitedefines autism as... “A lifelongdevelopmental disability that affectsthe way a person communicates andrelates to people around them. Peoplewith autism have difficulties witheveryday social interaction.” Foundedin 1988, Leeds Autism Services existsto provide excellence in services topeople with autism.

One of the key techniques (or‘interventions’ as they are called)employed to meet the needs of autisticchildren and adults is through one-to-oneactivity sessions. As well as maintaining aresidential home for long-term care, afurther aim of Leeds Autism is to help asmany autistic people as possible in theLeeds area through the operation of a daycare service. For some years the charityhad been using a mill building which wasbecoming increasingly dilapidated andimpract ical. One of the primerequirements was to occupy premises thatare sub divided into a number of smallconsulting rooms, in addition to largerareas for free association. Given that mostdevelopers currently prefer to market ‘openplan’ property, the charity was only evergoing to have a limited number of options.

So when a very suitable freehold came onthe market, it was imperative that thecharity moved fast if their bid was going tobe successful. Which also meant of coursethat their preferred lender – Unity TrustBank - would need to match the paceas well.

Go for it!David Thomson, one of the Trustees ofLeeds Autism, comments as follows:“We were already a customer of thebank, which in the circumstances wasan immense help. They knew what wewere looking for and that we had thefinancial collateral to support ourrequest to them for a loan of £250,000.After two or three years searching forsuitable premises, we finally foundsomewhere – an ex GP’s surgery - thatwas spot on as far as we’re concernedand we were keen to buy. Not onlybecause the layout of the buildingseemed perfect for our needs, but alsobecause of the fact that the rent in ourthen current premises had reached alevel where it would be cheaper for usto service a monthly mortgage paymentthan stay put. So it became veryimportant to us that we secured thesepremises and Unity didn’t need that

spelling out to them – they got behindus and did everything possible to makesure that we were successful. All wehad to do was make it happen!”

“And, make it happen we did” saidYvonne Bramall, Unity’s DevelopmentManager in the region. Adding “We haveconsiderable experience of PropertyDevelopment Funding and understandbetter than most the unique nature ofcharity and voluntary sector financing.Our customers are comforted in theknowledge that we can be extremelyflexible and tailor the funding packageto meet the individual needs ofthe organisation.”

Funding flexibiltyUnity’s Property Development Fundingpackage is des igned to ass is torganisations with the redevelopmentof existing or the construction of newpremises. The loan is paid out atdifferent stages of construction, as andwhen required, which often includescovering grant claims and VAT rebates.This approach also ensures that costsare minimised. There is also an optionfor interest to be rolled up* during theconstruction phase where no interestand no loan repayments are due untilthe property is completed.

*If a property takes 6 months to build, the interest chargefor the 6 months is added to the mortgage and repaid overthe agreed term.

If you don’t ask, you don’t get!

2

Fast decisions

As their name suggests, VoluntaryAction Sheffield (VAS) provides awhole range of support services tovoluntary and community groups inand around Sheffield. When theyneeded funding to help with thecreation of a new purpose-built centre,they chose Unity Trust Bank.

As well as start-ups, VAS also helpses tab l i shed organ isa t ions andindividuals (particularly volunteers) toplay an active role in communitydevelopment, regeneration activitiesand in delivering services. VAS adviseson matters such as managementcommittees, fundraising, sustainability,quality systems, help with accountancyand payroll, legal and HR matters.Voluntary and community groups canalso rent office accommodation fromVAS and hire conference, training andmeeting facilities at the Circle – VAS’purpose-built and Unity Trust Bank-funded headquarters right in the heartof Sheffield city centre.

Relationships pay offAlthough VAS was already a Unity Trustcustomer, the decision was made toconsult a specialist broker for an expertopinion on which banks should beapproached for the £1.2m funding theproject required to match the publicsector and other funding VAS hadidentified for the project. Paul Carnell,Development Director at VAS wasunsurprised to hear that the broker wasof the opinion that VAS do the deal withtheir current bank – Unity. “We were alittle surprised by this advice, but nottotally” says Paul. The market we serveand the services we provide to thatmarket are not exactly commonplace,so we concluded – as did our broker –that the time we would spend bringingother banks up to speed on what we’reabout, would be better investedelsewhere. And if even if we had takenother banks through the learning curve,there was always the chance that they

wouldn’t be entirely comfortable withwhat we do. Whereas Unity knewprecisely what the core of our businesswas and on that basis we decided to pinour colours firmly to their mast.

Unity gives the thumbs upPaul continued “Given this was the firsttime we’d entered into a commitment ofthis nature and size, we handed ourbusiness plan over to Unity for expertscrutiny. The bank went over ourbusiness plan with a fine-tooth comband we were very encouraged whenthey gave the concept, and ourapplication for funds, the thumbsup. And Unity didn’t have aproblem with the idea of usrepaying the loan purelyout of the income thebuilding was going togenerate for us.”

Fostering communitycohesion

0845 140 1000or visit www.unity.co.uk

3

Roots through roofs

Can we help with your banking or loan finance needs? Contact yourRegional Development Manger, Yvonne Bramall for a no-obligation chat.

Rotherham based Action Housing &Support works with vulnerable andsocially excluded people to help themestablish secure and independentlives, but providing a family of six, ora single individual, with a permanentplace to live (as distinct to a halfwayhouse) costs money. Which is whereUnity Trust Bank comes in – with allof a £2 million loan.

Not only does AHS provide familiesand individuals with somewhere theycan call home, the organisation alsoshows people how to gain access to arange of essential services, includinghealth care, advice on substancemisuse, one-to-one counsell ing,educat ion and household cashmanagement. By giving the rightsupport at the right time, ActionHous ing can make a mass ive

difference to people’s lives - assumingof course, they have the financialresources to do that.

No ifs, no buts, no problemSteve Hawley, the property servicesmanager at Action Housing & Support- who managed the deal from start tofinish, sums up what persuaded AHSto do business with Unity. ”Weestimated that we’d need to borrow £2million + if we were going to achieveour housing stock targets in 2008 and2009. So we talked to a range ofbanks – including our own – to seewhat was on offer.

It’s true to say that all of the banks weapproached were initially keen to dobusiness, though I couldn’t help butfeel that some of them were notentirely comfortable with one issue -

namely our tenants. As far as we’reconcerned, that’s got very little to dowith it. I was reassured that Unity’speople shared the same view and werenot at all fazed by that situation. Andas negotiations evolved, it was obviousthat Unity’s team had seen it all before– or something very like it - and wereentirely comfortable with the position.

From start to finish, Unity stayedfocussed on the real issues, the qualityand fundamental value of the stock wewere interested in buying and ourability to service the loan. This positiveapproach made them a front runner.What also helped was that Unityoffered a very worthwhile inducementby ag ree ing to amor t i se the i rArrangement Fee over two years sothat we would only have to pay thebank as and when we purchasedfreeholds. We also liked the fact thatUnity is a socially responsible bankand we found a lot of common groundin that respect”.

4

0845 140 1000or visit www.unity.co.uk

Yvonne BramallUnity Trust Bank plc73 West Street, Sheffield, S1 4EQTel: 0114 272 3024Mobile: 07711 412873Email: yvonne.bramall@unity.co.uk