Press releases

(FCA Complaints Data – 01 July 2017 to 31 December 2017)

In line with the FCA complaints data reporting requirements, figures published today by Santander UK reveal there were 183,758 complaints received by the bank during the second half of 2017. This is a 13.1 per cent increase on the number reported for the first half of 2017. This increase is partially driven by an uplift in PPI related complaints following the FCAs announcement and advertising campaign launched in March 2017, confirming the deadline for PPI claims to be made by 29 August 2019.

The Willoughbridge Garden Trust, a charity set up to support the Dorothy Clive Garden in Market Drayton, Shropshire, is celebrating its 60^th  anniversary and to cater to its growing business it has selected Santander as its banking partner. Santander has extensive knowledge of the charity sector and will bring experience with managing specific challenges such as seasonal cash flow for the Garden, tea rooms and gift shop which are running at full capacity. The Trust plans to recruit and extra 15 part-time staff in the summer 2018.

Minds Matter, the retail arm of the national charity Mind, is piloting contactless donation terminals in 10 of its shops around the UK to bolster donations. The 12-month programme started on 16th February with the terminals funded by Santander Corporate & Commercial for the purposes of the pilot. Santander has been the banking partner for a number of Mind’s retail shops since 2014 and, if the pilot is successful, the contactless terminals could be rolled out across more of Minds’ shops.

From this month Santander UK will be introducing a new cashback deal for its 123, 123 Lite, Select and Private current account customers.

Age UK York has received £5,000 to help fund its work in supporting isolated elderly people in the area who need advice on managing their finances.

The Environment Trust has been awarded £5,000 to fund a year’s worth of workdays for nature conservation volunteers in Kingston.

• £100,000 Student Impact Fund run in partnership with Crowdfunder will help at least 50 student projects across the UK
• Fund launches with a £10,000 competition on 23 February

Santander today announces the launch of a new fund designed to support the challenges and priorities of students or student groups across the UK. Students with projects in need of financial support can now receive matched funding through an innovative partnership between Santander and Crowdfunder.co.uk .

Nene Park Trust has received £5,000 to fund the conversion of a vehicle store into a fully equipped workshop, from which its volunteer team will be able to create a wide range of products for use across the Park, which is located to the West of Peterborough. These products will include bird boxes and feeders, fencing, planters and willow work sculptures.

The Workers’ Educational Association (WEA) has received £5,000 to fund a mobile information technology unit. The new unit will be taken into communities in West Sussex to teach basic computing skills to unemployed people, single parent families and the el

Rumbletums Café has received £5,000 to enable them to recruit a Front of House Assistant and a Senior Training Support Worker to offer guidance in a work environment to young adults with learning disabilities in Kimberley, Nottinghamshire.

Ignite Trust, a Harrow-based community programme which provides activities and support for young people in the local area, has received £1,000 of matched funding from Santander’s innovative Changemaker Fund.

Altruist Enterprises, a Birmingham-based social enterprise which provides stress management and mental health awareness training to organisations and schools, has received £5,000 of matched funding from Santander’s innovative Changemaker Fund.

The 10,000 Hours Foundation, a Manchester-based community programme which promotes volunteer work among festival visitors, has received £2,500 of matched funding from Santander’s innovative Changemaker Fund.

Disability Today, a Surrey-based community programme which provides the disabled community with access to news products, services and organisations tailored for their needs, has received £5,000 of matched funding from Santander’s innovative Changemaker Fund.

On 6^th February 2018, Santander UK will officially open its newly designed and refurbished branch on the High Street, Crowborough.

Local Leicester-based family independent opticians Opticare Midlands Ltd (“Opticare”) has purchased the freehold premises of an existing practice in the region, expanding its footprint to four outlets, after receiving funding from Santander Business Banking.

Santander UK, via its merchant acquiring partner Elavon, will from the spring enable its business customers to join the growing European networks of well-known Chinese payment wallet providers, across e-commerce solutions.

• Santander UK, in conjunction with the Food & Drink Federation and the Department of International Trade, took 12 UK food and drink manufacturers to India on a week-long trade mission in January
• Firms that attended included Amber Glen Scotch Whisky Co., Delamere Dairy, Provenance Brands, The English Cheesecake Company, Greene King, Iceland Foods and St James Smokehouse (Scotland)
• Significant opportunities exist for UK food and drink manufacturers in Indian food market forecast to be worth £500 billion by 2020

Walsall-based G Simmons & Sons, the family-owned manufacturer of pork scratchings, pork crackling and related products, is to expand its premises to cater for record demand following £334,000 in funding from Santander Business Banking.