An audio version of this blog read by Amy is available, please click here.
Hiya, this is Amy, Exec Director at Zoo Co.
A lot of us are feeling helpless at the moment.
As we’ve seen at the highest level in this country last week, statements are fraught with disagreement, and even if we can agree, it can be hard to see what change statements create.
An effective and decisive move available to any organisation is to shift their money away from banks and institutions that invest in the manufacture or distribution of arms.
Moving to an ethical bank also means an organisation’s money is no longer invested in fossil fuels, tobacco, or gambling, and is instead invested in areas like renewable energy.
Some organisations have sat their money in the same place for years - decades - vaguely unhappy with the service they’re getting, but sticking with the ‘devil they know’ because of inertia and overwork. Maybe now is the time to turn and face that change, and send a clear message to your staff and other stakeholders.
If you don’t work at management level, or your role is unconnected to finance, this is a specific call to action you can put to your organisation, distinct from asking them to voice a political stance:
Who do we bank with?
Could we make a better choice?
Move your own money, and tell other people (including the bank you’re leaving) why and how you did it. There’s huge potential impact in the issues that you care about with this one step.
Remind staff and freelancers regularly that they can choose how their pension is invested; NEST and Equity both have ethical options. As an employer, you can’t offer advice or apply pressure, but you can remind people of the various options available, and how they can select them.
In Jan 2024, Zoo Co switched our main account over to Co-op, in perhaps our biggest single sustainable shift of the past year. In Sept 2023, we reminded our staff about their pension fund options. My personal current account and savings account are with Nationwide.