Helping our communities, the Investec way
Across the business, we use the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a framework to assess, align and prioritise business and community activities. As a group, Investec has committed to two core SDGs, 10 Reduced inequalities and 13 Climate action, along with six secondary sustainable development goals. With this in mind, for our community initiatives in the UK, we focus on programmes and activities where we can add the most value in three key areas: education, entrepreneurship and the environment. In the financial year 2024/25, our colleagues dedicated over 3,600 hours to supporting local community partners in the UK, Ireland and the Channel Islands.
We’re committed to adding value to the communities we operate in by delivering targeted programmes with community partners and giving our people two days of paid annual leave to volunteer. In the financial year 2024/25, we launched a flagship environmental partnership with the London Wildlife Trust to protect habitats and inspire young people to develop careers in the environmental sector. We also piloted a new education programme focused on helping young adults gain essential professional and employability skills. Additionally, we funded several new businesses with a social purpose through our Investec Beyond Business programme.
We aim to empower young people to reach their aspirations in life. While academic success is important, our education programmes focus on essential life skills, including employability and financial literacy.
Investec has entrepreneurial roots and we’re proud to support entrepreneurs who want to make a sustainable impact in their communities. We do this through our award-winning Investec Beyond Business social enterprise incubation programme.
We believe that the environment we live in directly affects the wellbeing of the people in it. By partnering with local charities and engaging our employees in volunteering efforts, we work to improve the local environment, promote a circular economy, and enhance the wellbeing of individuals in the community.
3600+ hours
559
£131,300+
Environmental, social and governance (ESG) ratings
We participate and maintain our inclusion in select world-leading indices. These indices have been designed objectively to measure the performance of companies that meet globally recognised corporate responsibility standards.
Investec Group sustainability report 2025
Learn more about our commitment to sustainability in the past financial year.
Measuring our impact
In the UK, we use the Business for Societal Impact (B4SI) framework to measure our charitable contributions and their societal impact. This framework enables Investec plc to assess the effectiveness, efficiency, and value generated through its partnerships, leading to informed decision-making, improved performance, and enhanced stakeholder engagement. For the fourth year, we have obtained assurance from Corporate Citizenship, the managers of B4SI, regarding our community investment data for the financial year ended 31 March 2025, demonstrating our commitment to transparency and accountability in our community investment efforts.
In 2025, Investec plc maintained a strong focus on community investment, with 76% of contributions directed toward long-term initiatives and 24% through charitable gifts. Contributions were made in various forms: 51% as cash donations, 19% dedicated to employee volunteering, and 1% provided as in-kind donations. The remaining 29% accounted for management costs. Our implementation of the B4SI framework continues to mature, with improvements in data collection and reporting, and a growing focus on measuring outcomes and impact. B4SI acknowledged our progress in embedding the framework and encouraged further development in areas such as in-kind valuation and refining beneficiary measurement.
Modern Slavery
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In 2024, Investec made the decision to partner with the charity Unseen to strengthen our efforts in addressing modern slavery risks in our operations and supply chains, reinforcing our commitment to combating modern slavery and human trafficking.
Our collaboration with Unseen aligns with our core values and our dedication to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly goal 10 (Reduced inequalities) and goal 8 (Decent work and economic growth). We are committed to enhancing our approach to addressing modern slavery throughout our organisation and developing actionable plans to improve our practices. Since the start of this partnership, we have made several moves to better show our dedication in tackling modern slavery - we have established a Modern Slavery Working Group with participants from key areas across the business, including sustainability, legal, procurement, facilities, financial crime and more. You can find our Modern Slavery Act Statement here.
Project grants for charities
We support small and medium-sized charities through grants for specific projects. In the last financial year 2024/25, we allocated £68,322 to 20 charities for initiatives supporting their local communities. These projects included empowering young people to secure long-term employment and implementing financial education programs in primary schools. If you represent a charity that falls under our focus areas – education, entrepreneurship, and/or environment - and are local to one of our UK offices, you may be eligible to apply for a grant. Please read the full criteria below to find out more and get in touch.