Ecology becomes first building society to be awarded Fair Tax Mark

The Fair Tax Mark is the world’s first independent accreditation scheme to address the issue of responsible tax, with Ecology being the latest company to be awarded the mark.

Ecology chief executive Paul Ellis said: “We believe that the fair payment of tax is an important part of our contribution to society and helps reduce inequalities which have an environmental cost.

“While tax remains a controversial area for many, as an ethical business with mutual values at our heart, we are proud to be the first building society to be awarded the Fair Tax Mark, which sets a benchmark for responsible tax behaviour.

“The Fair Tax Mark award is a further demonstration of our ethical approach. Our continued commitment to openness and honesty about our financial affairs sets us apart from most other financial services providers and plays a vital role in helping to deliver our mission to build a greener society.”

The first Fair Tax Mark accreditation of a building society now opens up the opportunity for other building societies and ethical banks to demonstrate openness and transparency about their tax affairs.

Ecology Building Society was also recently awarded Living Wage Accreditation. Paul Ellis commented: “While all the society’s salaries already exceed the Living Wage, accreditation demonstrates our commitment to maintain this, as well as ensuring that all contractors working on our premises will also be paid the Living Wage.”

The society ensures all employees are paid at least £8.25 an hour, regarded as the real cost of living in the UK.

Ecology offers mortgage discounts of up to 1.25% on its standard variable rate – which is currently 4.9% - for sustainable buildings under its C-Change mortgage initiative, with the highest discounts awarded for homes that achieve passive house, Enerphit, Code level 6 or AECB Gold standard.