Shared Interest
"Investing in a Fairer World"
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| Co-operative | |
| Industry | Financial Services (Fair Trade) |
| Founded | 1990 |
| Headquarters |
2 Cathedral Square, Groat Market, Newcastle, NE1 1EH, Tyne & Wear |
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Key people
|
Patricia Alexander (Managing director) |
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Number of employees
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36 |
| Website | www.shared-interest.com |
2 Cathedral Square, Groat Market, Newcastle,
Shared Interest Society Limited is a fair trade financial co-operative based in the United Kingdom formed in 1990. Today it provides credit and financial services to fair trade producers, retailers, importers and exporters throughout the world. Shared Interest works with both Fairtrade International (formerly known as Fairtrade Labelling Organizations (FLO)) and the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO). In 2004, the Shared Interest Foundation was formed as a charitable subsidiary, providing training and support services to producers, complementing the financial services offered by the Society. Shared Interest received the Queen's Award for Enterprise in 2008.
Shared Interest was the brain-child of Mark Hayes, then an investment banker with 3i, now an academic economist at Cambridge, who was the first Managing Director from 1990-1999. Inspired by the success of Traidcraft in harnessing socially responsible investment for the finance of fair trade, Hayes approached Traidcraft founder Richard Adams in 1986, beginning a collaboration that culminated in the formation of Shared Interest in 1990 as a special form of co-operative saving and loan society.
The initial £100,000 funding (subsequently repaid) for the launch of the Society came from Traidcraft, Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, and a similar co-operative established in 1975 in the Netherlands, now called Oikocredit. However the creation of Shared Interest was finally made possible by the action of SIAL (Scottish Churches Action for World Development Investment Association Limited), an Oikocredit Support Association, who provided the first 200 members and £300,000 of capital. Oikocredit was Shared Interest's main channel for lending in its first five years.
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