Corporate social responsibility

Here at First Response Finance, we pride ourselves on being a responsible lender and always look to extend that responsibility within our local community and to the environment - we do this through a number of different activities and projects.

Sustainability

Paperless

Our offices are largely a paperless environment and have been for over ten years. We continue to encourage paperless activity not only in our own offices, but also within the offices of the businesses that we partner with. We've done this by updating our documentation to be completed digitally using eSign technology, removing the need for printed documents, and we continue to find ways to reduce it further.

Recycling

We have a recycling scheme in place to reduce our carbon footprint. We use Shred-it for secure paper shredding and document destruction services, and we use Biffa for waste management and additional recycling.

Solar energy

We've installed solar panels on two of our offices in order to keep electricity usage down and contribute to helping the environment. This is the first of many green initiatives we'll be undertaking over the coming years.

Electric vehicle scheme

Our carbon footprint is more than just our physical spaces - we've introduced an electric vehicle scheme to support our employees with lowering their own carbon footprint on journeys to and from our offices, and also in their day-to-day lives.

As part of this initiative, we've installed charging points at our offices to allow our employees to charge their vehicles whilst at work.

Charity

We've always tried to support local charities, knowing that the money we raise will make a real difference both locally and nationally. We're currently supporting two charities, Magic Breakfast and The Trussell Trust.

Magic Breakfast is a charity committed to ensuring children have a healthy and nutritious breakfast every day, and The Trussell Trust aims to stop UK hunger; a goal that we support both through our donations and through the food drives our staff members have run.

Fundraising

Our offices have soft drinks available to purchase for staff members in exchange for a small donation, which goes directly to our charities (split equally between Magic Breakfast and The Trussell Trust).

Our staff members have also completed a number of fundraising events, including bake sales, breakfast mornings, and taking part in the National Three Peaks Challenge.

Finally, we understand that charity is a very personal matter. That's why we don't just support the charities mentioned above, but also the ones that matter to our people. We do this by matching any money our employees raise for their chosen charities. For example, if a staff member raises £500 for a charity close to their heart, we'll donate £500 to that charity as well as £500 to our chosen charities.

Gender pay

Find out how we approach the gender pay gap and how we're committed to continually reviewing our employee salaries to maintain equality,
fairness, and transparency in our Gender Pay Reporting 2020, Gender Pay Reporting 2021, Gender Pay Reporting 2022, Gender Pay Reporting 2023, and Gender Pay Reporting 2024 documents.

Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement

Find out how we're aware of the issues and risks associated with our business in relation to modern slavery and human trafficking, and our due diligence processes for combating this issue, in our Slavery and Human Trafficking Statement.