Gloucester insurer ranked 8th biggest UK corporate charity donor
Gloucester-based Ecclesiastical - Credit: Archant
Specialist Gloucester-based insurance group Ecclesiastical has been named the 8th biggest donor to charity in the UK, ahead of many other household names such as Marks and Spencer and Virgin Atlantic. The new listing, produced independently by the Directory of Social Change (DSC) for their 2013/2014 UK Guide to Company Giving, ranks companies based on total pre-tax donations to charity. Ecclesiastical’s giving figure includes all grants to registered charities and fundraising undertaken during the year.
Ecclesiastical is the only specialist insurance group in the Top 10 list but has punched well above its weight, giving more to charity than HSBC, the largest listed company in the UK. The company has donated more than £55 million to charitable causes in the last five years alone.
Commenting on the ranking, Ecclesiastical’s Group Chief Executive Mark Hews, said: “I am delighted that our group has been able to give so much to charitable causes over recent years and that this has been independently recognised by the Directory of Social Change. “The fact that we have given so much is down to the valuable support provided by our customers, business partners and employees and I’d like to offer them all sincere thanks.
“Ecclesiastical is unique in financial services – in that all its surplus profits ultimately go to charity – and I hope that with continued support from both existing and new customers alike, we can build on this success and give back even more in the future.
“I also hope that the newly published listing of top company donors and the DSC’s UK Guide to Company Giving will now inspire more companies across the country to follow suit.”
Top 10 corporate givers by UK community contribution:
1 – Lloyds Banking Group
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2 – Goldman Sachs International
3 – Tesco plc
4 – Barclays PLC
5 – Vodafone Group plc
6 – BHP Billiton plc
7 – Santander UK
8 – Ecclesiastical Insurance Group plc
9 – HSBC Holdings plc
10 – Diageo plc
Directory of Social Change (DSC) Senior Researcher and Author John Smyth said: “Total cash donations made by companies this year amounted to £470.1 million with the Ecclesiastical Insurance Group continuing to be a major contributor. It is companies like Ecclesiastical that have a significant impact on the organisations they support and lead the trend in company giving.”
