The impact of financial inclusion interventions on the economy of Calderdale – final technical report

This study quantifies the wider effects of financial inclusion interventions in Calderdale on both the local and regional economy

Research into financial exclusion in Rochdale - final technical report

This report presents the findings and recommendations of research conducted on the extent and nature of financial exclusion in Rochdale

What’s so social about Social Return on Investment? A critique of quantitative social accounting approaches drawing on experiences of international microfinance

Quantitative approaches figure prominently in social accounting and auditing. This is because of the preference among many investors for simple and ostensibly robust and comparative metrics. Social Return on Investment (SROI), which produces a monetised value for social impact generated per unit of currency invested, has emerged as one of the dominant tools to generate such metrics. This article discusses the merits of this increasing orientation towards quantitative metrics in social accounting using SROI as an exemplar and drawing on an extensive review of social impact evaluations in microfinance. The microfinance sector represents an interesting and relevant case for social accounting because it has been strongly orientated towards quantitative and experimental methods to evaluate its non-financial performance. The article concludes that, despite using sophisticated methods, the microfinance sector struggles to credibly determine its impact on customers. Self- and MFI selection biases cast doubts on the merits of using national benchmark indicators or control groups. Consequently, it is argued that SROI is better viewed as a means of claiming symbolic legitimacy (as per Luke, Barraket, and Eversole 2013) than as a robust method for evidencing social impact or a tool for managers and investors

Delivering insurance to low-income households

Lack of insurance is recognised as a key indicator of financial exclusion in the UK, and the government is encouraging thinking on how it can be tackled. Community development finance institutions (CDFIs) have a UK-wide presence, and have experience of offering financial products to financially excluded, low-income consumers. This paper explores whether they could become effective suppliers of home contents insurance and life insurance to their current, and prospective, clients

"The computer says no” : the demise of the traditional bank manager and the depersonalisation of British banking, 1960-2010

This article examines the role of the British bank branch manager in the context of the transformation of banking since the 1980s and discusses its implications for British banking. The analysis was based on interviews with retired bank managers and suggests that they viewed their role as being was based on skill, authority and autonomy. The centralisation of authority and increasing targets deskilled and disempowered their profession. Drawing on Weber’s theory of bureaucratisation, this article argues that the loss of agency of managers depersonalised service provision as they no longer could base their decisions on personal considerations

Another step up the ladder or another foot in the grave? Re-evaluating the role of formal and informal training in the career development process within Barclays Bank, 1945–80

This paper uses a combination of archival sources and oral testimonies to evaluate the role that training (both internal and external) played in determining the promotion prospects of those employed by Barclays Bank during the post-World War II era. In addition to this, it also looks at the extent to which less formal training and learning practices continued to play a role in the career development process within Barclays. Ultimately, what it suggests is that, whilst moves certainly we re made to modernize and formalize the Bank’s staff development program during this period, there continued to be a strong attachment to many of the conservative and paternalist assumptions that had been dominant in the years prior to World War II