Annual Report & Accounts

"It’s no exaggeration to say that The Cumberland is an integral part of the social fabric in our heartland of Cumbria, Lancashire, Northumberland and Dumfries and Galloway.

...But there is more to come."

Read about our key highlights from 2024-25 below.

Our funding supports its network of local foodbanks and community food hubs allowing them to deliver and expand their services. We donated £250,000 this year, continuing the partnership with FareShare Lancashire and Cumbria and expanding into Dumfries and Galloway through FareShare Glasgow and the West of Scotland.

This year the pledge raised £15,252, which we used to buy equipment for food groups in our Kinder Kind of Kitchen initiative. This is in addition to the £250,000 we gave directly to Kinder Kind of Kitchen.

33 groups benefited, receiving more than 300 items including 75 air fryers, 53 slow cookers, 5 catering-size urns, 3 bread makers, 2 cookers, 2 freezers and 1 fridge as well as microwaves, toasters, kettles, a panini maker and a smoothie maker.

To help them, we joined forces with EVERFI, an international education technology company, to launch a pilot project introducing a mobile-first education resource called Vault: Understanding Money.

This is aimed at primary school children in Years 4 – 6 and some older children with special educational needs.

This recognises outstanding customer service and, in our case, is based on more than 2,000 verified reviews from customers.

Borderway Finance also retained its platinum status.

Best Companies described us as a “world-class company to work for” and awarded us its top three-star accreditation, given only to organisations that “truly excel” and provide “world-class levels of
workplace engagement”.

Eighty-one per cent said the experience they get at work is valuable for their future while 92 per cent agreed that their manager “talks openly and honestly with me” and said colleagues “go out of their way” to help each other.

The Story was developed with input from our people and shared at an all-colleague event. The event gave the Senior Leadership team the opportunity to share their stories and engage with colleagues on theirs. It was a day filled with activities to help colleagues reflect and connect on our journey. You can see elements of our story throughout this page.

People make The Cumberland

We’re proud to be at the heart of our communities, where we’ve helped them thrive for over 170 years. With a strong share of the local market and reputation for kindness, we’ve grown deep roots – creating loyal and trusted relationships with our customers.

Building a sustainable business with its heart in Cumbria

Our transformation journey is now stepping up a gear, transforming our technology and ways of working. Investing in our skills and capabilities is a priority too –making sure our unbeatable customer experience keeps shining as we grow, giving customers the convenience and speed of modern online banking, with a human touch when they want to speak to a real person.

Together, we’ll achieve our bold ambitions

We may be small, but we’ve got big ambitions. Our aim is to be known across the UK for creating a banking experience that’s kinder to people and planet.
Our focus on people is in our nature. It shines through in our vibrant, friendly service and is proven by our love of doing right by our customers – we go the extra mile.

Powered by our focus on being the best that we can be

The Cumberland is built on the shoulders of every one of our people. As a team, we really care about each other. We’re bound together by our shared values. We need to continue to harness our strengths and unite behind our shared goal.

Leading the way in doing banking with a difference

Together, we’re creating a 21st century business that is built to last. Modernising how we do things will mean that we can be wherever our customers want us to be – giving them choice about how and when they interact with us, whether that be by speaking to a real person, or digitally, while retaining our strong Northern presence.

To ensure that we have the necessary processes and systems, we need
external verification and a framework of standards to adhere to.

We will, therefore, strive to attain B Corp certification.

This is a trusted measure used by thousands of businesses across the world to show they meet high standards of verified performance, accountability and transparency on factors from colleague benefits and charitable giving to supply chain practices and input materials.