The team at credit union Commsave are celebrating after being unveiled as finalists in the SME Northamptonshire Business Awards – up for three top business awards.

This not-for-profit organisation, one of the largest and most successful credit unions in the UK, is owned exclusively by its 35,000+ members which means profits are retained within the business, shared with members in the form of annual dividends, invested in staff development and shared with local communities.

With the SME awards ceremony set to take place in June 2023, Commsave are proudly up for the Employer of the Year, Business of the Year and Service Excellence awards.

James Richards, Commsave Business Development Manager, said: “It’s extremely motivating to be up for three such coveted awards. Our team work tirelessly, we have an exceptional employee wellbeing package, have ambitious growth plans and are proud to give back locally and support the Northamptonshire community.”

Although Commsave is a national business, nearly one in five (18%) of its members are Northamptonshire based, so Commsave has a particular focus on supporting local and working with county-based businesses.

It’s easy to see why Commsave are so successful and to give you a flavour of the company’s ethos and ambitions here are just a few of the extracts and highlights from the Commsave award nominations:

Businesses: Commsave, which already works with North and West Northamptonshire councils, Kettering General Hospital, local housing providers, and a number of charities, has an employee benefits package for businesses. This includes a payroll deduction scheme, meaning staff can save pounds straight from their pay packets.

As James explains: “We all know that worries about money can affect performance at work and today’s cost-of-living crisis means this can quickly become a problem. A financially empowered workforce makes great business sense and demonstrates to staff that their employers can improve their financial wellbeing – simply and practically.”

Giving back: Commsave has a member lottery. Tickets are £1. Fifty pence from each ticket goes to member prizes, 25 pence goes to the education and staff development and 25 pence is funnelled into Commsave’s Community Grants. Since being launched in July 2022 Commsave has donated more than £17,000 to projects its members care most about – charities, community groups, school literacy programmes and much more.

Commsave also supports the Northampton Town Football Club women’s team – sponsoring the training kit and one of the players.

Education: Commsave’s online portal https://curight.co.uk is packed with budget planning tools, calculators for mortgages/loans, and resources on everything from the cost-of-living crisis and costs of home working to insurance options, savings tips, debt management and stamp duty.

Teamwork: Commsave nearly doubled its team in the last year, with a generous training and development budget. The organisation is committed to supporting young people, recruiting 24 apprentices in the last five years – 15 of whom still work full time for the company.

Staff thankyous: Commsave believes in rewarding its staff. In 2022 it awarded all staff a £2,000 ‘bonus’ to help with the cost-of-living price increases and, in February 2023, gave everyone a wage increase, which averaged 10% across the business – from apprentices to the management team.

Find out more about Commsave here: www.commsave.co.uk