City Bridge Foundation invests £1.5m in Salad to expand affordable credit for Londoners
A new partnership with Fair4All Finance will help unlock up to £20m in affordable lending for people across London’s most deprived boroughs who are excluded from mainstream credit.
- Published: 11 November 2026
City Bridge Foundation invests £1.5m in Salad to expand affordable credit for Londoners
A new partnership with Fair4All Finance will help unlock up to £20m in affordable lending for people across London’s most deprived boroughs who are excluded from mainstream credit.
City Bridge Foundation is investing £1.5 million in social impact lender Salad to help more Londoners access fair and affordable credit.
The investment, supported by a new £1.2 million funding guarantee from Fair4All Finance, will enable Salad to expand its lending across London’s most deprived boroughs. It has the potential to provide up to £20 million in affordable and responsible loans, supporting as many as 20,000 people who might otherwise struggle to access credit through mainstream lenders.
The agreement marks one of City Bridge Foundation’s first social impact investments in financial inclusion, building on its previous support for community finance lenders through £600,000 of first-loss grant funding in partnership with Responsible Finance.
The partnership demonstrates how City Bridge Foundation is using its resources in different ways to tackle inequality and support Londoners facing financial hardship.
Tackling the affordable credit gap
Access to affordable credit remains a significant challenge for many households. Research from Fair4All Finance shows that 46% of Londoners currently have low financial resilience, while across the UK there is an estimated £2 billion gap in the supply of affordable credit that could be provided on a commercially viable and responsible basis.
People on lower incomes can often find themselves excluded from mainstream lending despite having clear and manageable borrowing needs. As a result, some are left with fewer affordable options when they need to borrow money.
Salad is an award-winning social impact Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) and the UK’s largest in consumer lending. It aims to provide fair and affordable loans to people underserved by mainstream credit providers.
Rather than relying solely on traditional credit scores, Salad uses Open Banking technology to understand people’s financial circumstances and assess their ability to repay a loan based on their current financial behaviour.
Since 2018, Salad has lent more than £300 million, supporting over 200,000 customers. The organisation also received a King’s Award for innovation in fair and affordable lending this year.
Using social investment to create greater impact
Fair4All Finance’s £1.2 million guarantee has helped make City Bridge Foundation’s investment possible by reducing the risk associated with the investment and unlocking additional funding for the community finance sector.
The guarantee forms part of Fair4All Finance’s £25 million-plus Guarantees Pilot for Affordable Credit, which aims to encourage more investment into responsible lenders and increase the availability of affordable credit.
Paul Martinelli, Chair of City Bridge Foundation, said:
“Most Londoners can borrow at a fair price when they need to. But many people on low incomes can’t and can end up paying far more for the same loan. Salad offers affordable credit to people who are too often turned away by banks.
“This is one of City Bridge Foundation’s first social investments in financial inclusion and lets our resources work harder for London. Fair4All Finance’s guarantee has helped make this investment possible, and we’re grateful for its support. By helping Londoners borrow fairly, we hope to give them greater financial security and more room to plan ahead.”
Craig Pennington, CEO of Salad, said:
“This investment is a significant step forward in our mission to make fair and affordable credit accessible to more people overlooked by mainstream lenders. By working with City Bridge Foundation and Fair4All Finance, already a long-term partner of ours, we’ll be able to reach more Londoners, using our technology to look at the real people behind loan applications, rather than a static credit score.”
David Coombs, Director of Investment at Fair4All Finance, said:
“By de-risking investments like this one, our Guarantees Pilot for Affordable Credit helps bring new funders in to back responsible lenders and contributes to closing the affordable credit gap by expanding fair and affordable options for households.”