We’re breaking up with fossil fuels and switching to Tide 

We often talk about the sustainable choices we make in our daily operations—from the suppliers we choose to the energy we use. But recently, we realised we were ignoring the elephant in the room: our money.

It turns out that where your money sleeps at night is one of the biggest votes you cast for the kind of world you want to see. That’s why we’ve officially switched our business banking to Tide.

The problem with “big banking”

Until recently, we banked with Santander. Like many traditional high-street banks, Santander has a complicated relationship with the planet. Despite various green commitments, the reality of ‘big banking’ is often dark.

According to data sourced from Mother Tree (a leading platform for ethical banking intelligence) traditional banks are frequently major financiers of the fossil fuel industry. Every pound left in a standard current account is effectively capital that the bank can use to lend to oil and gas projects.

We couldn’t square our values with the idea that our cash reserves might be quietly funding the very climate crisis we are trying to fight. We already moved our pensions to Penfold to ensure our long-term savings were ethical, but our day-to-day banking needed to catch up.

Why we chose Tide

We wanted a partner that was digital-first, efficient, and, most importantly, clean. Tide stood out for several distinct reasons:

1. No fossil fuel lending (thanks to ClearBank)

Tide is a financial technology platform, not a bank itself. For its banking services, it partners with ClearBank. ClearBank’s model is radically different from the high street giants: they don’t lend your money out to other companies. Instead, funds are held at the Bank of England.
The result: There is zero risk of our operating cash funding new oil pipelines or coal mines.

2. A radical net zero strategy

Tide isn’t just ‘reducing’ emissions; they are aggressively removing them. They have pledged to be Net Zero by 2030, but they are taking action now, not just waiting for a deadline.

3. 100% carbon removal (scope 1, 2, and 3)

This is the detail that sealed the deal for us. Most companies only offset their direct emissions (scope 1). Tide has committed to removing 100% of its emissions across the board:

• Scope 1: Direct emissions from their own sources.
• Scope 2: Indirect emissions from the energy they purchase.
• Scope 3: All other indirect emissions in their supply chain.

They are doing this through durable carbon removal – investing in technologies that actually suck carbon out of the atmosphere, rather than just buying cheap ‘avoidance’ offsets.

Small switch, massive impact

Switching banks sounds like a lot of admin, but it is one of the most impactful things you can do as an individual or a business. Mother Tree estimates that the carbon footprint of the money held in a standard high-street bank account can be significantly higher than the carbon footprint of the account holder’s daily life.

By moving to Tide, we’ve effectively decarbonised our finances.

Join us?

If you’re looking to make your business more sustainable, don’t just look at your recycling bin – look at your bank statement. Tools like Mother Tree make it easy to see where your bank stands. And if you need any help making your website or digital tools more sustainable, you know where we are.

We’re proud to say our money is now as clean as our conscience.