Two Kent-based enterprises have scooped financial awards.

Charity Bank, Tonbridge, won the inaugural Finance for the Future Not-for Profit award in a contest backed by NatWest, ICAEW and the Prince’s Accounting for Sustainability project.

Hadlow College’s finance team led by Mark Lumsdon-Taylor, won the public sector award.

Charity Bank’s accolade rewards its long-term sustainable approach to business and finance, and its wider purpose beyond that of making a commercial profit.

Charity Bank attracts investors who wish to help good causes, many of them across the county.

Judges said sustainability was “embedded and championed from the top, with strong leadership from the CEO.

“Charity Bank was the first to develop a unique social banking model that creates value not only for its stakeholders but also for the wider community, essentially inventing a new and scalable form of social finance in the UK.”

Malcolm Hayday, the bank’s founder who steps down as chief executive this year, said: “We are delighted to have won this award.

"It recognises the dedication and hard work that has gone in to building Charity Bank over the last 10 years and, in particular, the often unheralded work of the finance team.

"This ethic has enabled us to respond to the needs of communities throughout the UK through the distribution of £165m in loans to over 1,000 social ventures.”