• Swindon & Wiltshire Professional services
• Thursday June 26 2025

Triodos celebrates 30th anniversary with £2.5 billion announcement

Bristol-based ethical bank Triodos is celebrating its 30th anniversary with the news that it has funded £2.5 billion of impact-led projects in the UK since it was established.

Since opening its UK business in 1995, Triodos has been at the forefront of sustainable banking, enabling individuals and organisations to use their money in ways that benefit people and the planet.

The bank has pioneered the use of finance to drive forward environmental change over the last 30 years, from financing Ecotricity to build its first wind turbine in 1996, to delivering a landmark £20.55 million loan – the UK’s largest conservation-focused commercial debt package to date – to Oxygen Conservation in 2023.

As well as environmental change, Triodos’s lending has supported social impact and championed inclusion and equality in communities across the UK. This has ranged from social housing, charities and healthcare providers and brands such as Riverford, Neal’s Yard and Cafédirect, to backing community projects such as Gympanzees – the UK’s first accessible play centre for children with disabilities – and Sea Lanes Brighton, the UK’s first open water swimming training centre.

Last year alone, Triodos Bank UK’s gross new lending was over £160 million. As of the end of 2024, Triodos Bank’s lending portfolio backed:

• Almost 100 clean energy projects, avoiding over 81 ktonnes of CO2 emissions and generating 35 MW – equivalent of annual electricity needs of 164,000 households
• 82 organic farms that together manage more than 28,000 acres of organic farmland, providing approximately 13 million organic meals
• 11 nature-based projects, sequestering approximately 12 ktonnes CO2
• 127 social housing projects, providing accommodation for approximately 15,500 people
• 65 care homes providing for over 2,600 individuals
• 49 projects in the cultural sector, from individual artists to large cultural institutions

CEO Mark Clayton said: “Over the past 30 years, Triodos has shown time and time again that where you bank matters. As too many banks scale back on sustainability commitments, at Triodos we remain committed to using the power of finance for good.

“Now more than ever, we urgently need finance to flow towards supporting resilient, healthy communities, and enabling our planet to thrive.

“We’re incredibly proud to reflect on what Triodos Bank customers have achieved over the last 30 years in the UK, with so many trailblazing businesses and organisations delivering impact where it is needed most.

“We look forward to growing this impact even further, alongside our community, in the years to come.”

From a team of seven people, Triodos now employs 300 co-workers at its Bristol headquarters and in London and Scotland.

Earlier this year Triodos was recognised with a King’s Award for Enterprise in Sustainable Development, as well as being named Best Ethical Financial Provider at the British Bank Awards for the fourth consecutive year.