People, Planet and Profit
People
We focus on enhancing and expanding the social aspect of what we do for our staff, our customers, our suppliers, our funders and our community.
We work with local schools, colleges and universities to offer work experience and training for students to help them learn more about topics such as:
- CV writing
- Interviews
- Commercial awareness
- Application forms
Alongside this, we provide expertise knowledge and information for our customers through informative blogs and support across our website.
We also provide support and learning for our internal staff, providing apprenticeships and qualifications for employees to further improve their knowledge.
We hold charity days to support charitable and good causes as well as offering employees 2 paid days leave a year for them to volunteer for charitable causes of their choice. This allows staff to donate their time and skills to support registered charities, non-profit distributing organisations or a social enterprise whilst reaping many benefits for themselves too!
Our Workplace Charter provides a framework of standards for both Shire Leasing and all of our colleagues to follow. It sets out the support that we can all reasonably expect from Shire and the commitment needed from us all in return in order to enable us to deliver a quality service to all of our customers, internally and externally and for us all to benefit from a supportive and harmonious work environment.
Here at Shire Leasing, we are proud to have a diverse workforce which is inclusive and welcoming of everyone.
Our CFO, Helen Lumb, is also a board member of the Leasing Foundation, representing Diversity and Inclusion where she champion’s:
- Mental health
- Disability
- Inclusivity
- And more
Shire offers support to employees by offering various training sessions, holding mental health weeks and making free support apps available for staff as well as being a registered mindful employer. We have held training days and events internally and externally, covering topics such as:
- Menopause
- Mental Health and Wellbeing
- Time To Talk
- Financial Wellbeing
Planet
We are working towards reducing our own environmental impact whilst using our products and market influence to support customers and our network in making positive changes.
In 2022, we won at the Leasing World Customer Service Excellence Awards. Recognised for various pioneering initiatives allowing us to deliver flexible business funding solutions to British businesses as an enabler for positive change.
Profit
As a growing, profitable financial services organisation that does business fairly and responsibly, we are committed to supporting the growth of SMEs by providing them with affordable finance solutions.
We are an independent funder and with an Own Book facility of over £225m, this gives us the flexibility to support a wider range of businesses.
In July 2023, Shire Leasing was recognised as a Top 50 Asset Finance company by Asset Finance Connect, demonstrating our strength and contributions within the industry. We have also been ranked as one of the top 10 firms with the highest percentage growth rates over the past three years, a testament to supporting UK SMEs.
The British Business Bank works with over 180 finance partners to unlock finance for smaller businesses, Shire Leasing included. Being accredited by the British Business Bank means that we can support even more smaller businesses to access the finance they need to thrive and grow.
Every employee works with the same values to achieve the same vision, and in doing so we strive to deliver a first class service to customers. For example, our SLAs around underwriting times are 4 hours for a manual decision, but due to our efficient nature, our average time is actually 1hr 37mins. And with innovation in mind, we give approved vendors the ability to deliver instant finance decisions for a wide range of customers.