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Fair trade financer recognised with royal award

Newcastle-based fair trade financer Shared Interest has been recognised for its strong track record in sustainable development by receiving a Queen’s Award for Enterprise at an official ceremony led by the Lord Lieutenant of Tyne and Wear on Wednesday 2 July.

Staff and stakeholders of the organisation - including representatives from Shared Interest’s Costa Rican and Kenyan offices - gathered at Newcastle’s Assembly Rooms for a formal presentation of the award.

The Mayor of Newcastle, Councillor David Wood, who attended the ceremony, said: “I am really pleased to see a locally based organisation being recognised with such a prestigious award. The work that Shared Interest does with the developing world is very important and long may it continue.”

The world’s only 100% fair trade lender, Shared Interest is an international organisation with its head office in the North East of England. Operating as a co-operative, it lends over £30 million each year to businesses in the developing world by pooling investor funds.

Patricia Alexander, Shared Interest Managing Director, said: “We have significantly increased the amount of money we lend directly to fair trade farmers and handicraft makers overseas, especially since we opened our regional offices, which give us ‘on the ground’ contact with people working out in the field.

“In effect, our strategy of opening offices in the developing world has been vindicated by our lending figures - and now by a Queen’s Award.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .