Metro Bank, the UK’s community bank, has received a silver award from the Ministry of Defence as part of its Employer Recognition Scheme, recognising the bank’s work supporting the Armed Forces community.
Metro Bank signed the Armed Forces Covenant a year ago in July 2019 and achieved a bronze award. Just a year later, the bank has proved its ongoing commitment to doing more to support military personnel, as recognised by the prestigious silver award.
The Covenant is a pledge that those who serve or who have served in the armed forces, and their families, will be treated with fairness and respect in the communities, economy and society they serve with their lives.
Metro Bank has a number of colleagues who are former service personnel and regularly runs insight days, and more recently webinars, for those leaving the Armed Forces, to help them take the next step in their career. As a result, the bank is seeing a strong pipeline of military potential join its 3,500-strong workforce.
In November 2019, Metro Bank expanded its mortgage product range by joining the Armed Forces Help to Buy scheme. As part of the scheme, an interest-free loan is provided by the Ministry of Defence, allowing eligible Armed Forces personnel to borrow up to half of their gross annual salary (to a maximum of £25,000), interest free for 10 years.
The bank continues its agenda to support the Armed Forces community, developing a number of processes to make it easier for military personnel to carry out their banking needs, as well as creating a safe and welcomed environment for new and existing colleagues who’ve had a background in the military.
Rupert Stevens, Lead Product Manager at Metro Bank and veteran, added: “As a Metro Bank colleague and veteran, having previously served in the Army for nine years, I’m delighted that we’ve received a silver award from the Ministry of Defence. I’m incredibly proud to see our bank-wide commitment to being a Forces-inclusive business recognised, in line with our ambition to become the UK’s best community bank, and we’ve got plenty more planned to support the military community in the coming months.”