This week Provident Financial published its 2014 corporate responsibility (CR) report; the company’s fourteenth such report.
The report sets out the CR performance in relation to Provident Financial plc and its subsidiary businesses – Vanquis Bank, the Consumer Credit Division (comprising Provident, Satsuma Loans and Glo) and Moneybarn – in UK and Ireland, and the group’s six key stakeholders: customers, communities, employees, suppliers, shareholders and investors, and regulators.
This most recent CR report was developed using a rigorous materiality assessment that incorporated feedback from external and internal stakeholders, to identify the CR issues most important from their and our business’s point of view. The result of this assessment also fed into the work that was carried out at the beginning of the year to update the group’s CR strategy and create a first statement of social purpose which succinctly sets out the role that the Provident Financial Group plays in society.
As such, the format of the 2014 report has been changed to mirror the themes of the new CR strategy which will enable the Provident Financial Group to report more clearly the progress being made in term of its delivery.
Peter Crook, Chief Executive of Provident Financial, commented:
“The work that we’ve undertaken over the past 12 to 18 months to develop the Provident Financial Group’s first statement of social purpose and update the CR strategy makes clear that our priority is to lend responsibly to all our customers, but that we will also systematically manage the other social, environmental and economic issues that are material to our business activities. This encompasses how we treat employees, agents and suppliers, as well as supporting and investing in the many communities we serve, and minimising our impacts on the environment.”