JPMorgan Chase to allocate £40 million into funding underserved communities in the UK

Building on learnings from the firm’s 200 year history of doing business in the U.K., JPMorgan Chase is increasing its support in two focus areas: financial health and careers and skills.

With its expanding business presence and growing employee base, the firm is a major employer in cities including London, Bournemouth, Glasgow, Edinburgh and more recently a presence in Manchester, Leeds and Bristol. As the firm continues to grow across the country, it aims to further identify new opportunities for investment in local communities.

Over the last five years, the firm’s philanthropic investments have made an impact in supporting underserved communities. At the same time, its business continues to support companies of all sizes, invests in essential sectors and services and supports consumers’ banking needs. To support the U.K.’s increased policy focus on sustainable economic growth, JPMorgan Chase is expanding its philanthropic and business investments by applying its unique expertise, insight and resources across the firm to help further drive inclusive economic development.

Today’s £40 Million Announcement Aims to:

Improve Access to Job Opportunities (£24 million): As an employer, the firm is reducing barriers to entry-level positions and improving access to quality careers with a recent focus on operations and technology jobs, among others across the firm. Through its support to non-profit organisations the firm will help young people access better career guidance, employability support and training to start their careers.
Help Families Build Stronger Financial Futures (£16 million): The firm is supporting the development of easy-to-use financial management tools - offering solutions to help U.K. residents better manage their day-to-day finances. For low-income groups that cannot access mainstream banking, JPMorgan Chase will support non-profit organisations working to improve access to affordable credit and empower people to build buffers against financial shocks.

In addition to these new commitments, and building on the firm’s work to support small business growth, JPMorgan Chase will partner with the U.K. Government, British Business Bank and other industry leaders with the goal of strengthening the small business ecosystem and supporting diverse entrepreneurs and investors, particularly those in the innovation economy and in industries that could include technology, disruptive commerce, life sciences, healthcare IT and climate technology.

“The U.K. has always been a home for innovation and top talent, which is what makes it a great place to do business, and is why we have been here for 200 years. Today, we’re reaffirming our commitment to the country by helping create economic opportunity for families and businesses from London to Glasgow and Bournemouth to Manchester.” said Jamie Dimon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, JPMorgan Chase. “Our intent is for these new investments to continue to help us serve clients, hire great people, and collaborate with the U.K. government and local partners to create new investment opportunities and encourage others to get involved too.”

Improving Access to Job Opportunities

Research shows that young people between the ages of 14 -18 that participated in at least two career conversations, job shadowing or workplace visits earned 10.6% more than their comparable peers, and were 47% more likely to be in education, employment or training. Data suggests that employers should place greater emphasis on “skills-first”, an approach to talent management that emphasizes a person’s skills and competencies, rather than degrees or job titles. Evidence indicates that a skills-first approach has the potential to allow more people to access economic opportunities and pathways to good jobs.

The firm’s commitment

JPMorgan Chase is committed to creating more inclusive pathways to employment through expanding its skills-based hiring. The approach assesses candidates based on their skills and abilities rather than on university degrees, or other more conventional credentials. Two years after launching skills-based hiring in technology roles the firm is now expanding this approach to entry level operations jobs. This recruitment process will enable the firm to widen its talent pool and attract employees from a greater variety of backgrounds. It will also benefit candidates across the country, especially in areas such as Glasgow, Edinburgh and Bournemouth where the firm is recruiting for technology, operations and corporate jobs.

The opening of the new technology centre in Glasgow will support the firm’s commitment to enhancing U.K. job opportunities, particularly roles in technology, as the building provides vital software development facilities to the firm and its clients worldwide. The building created 3,900 local construction jobs over the past five years, and the Glasgow office is actively recruiting locally, taking in over 75 graduates every year.

As part of this commitment, the firm is also refreshing its approach to work experience, offering young people in secondary school repeated experiences to strengthen their career insights and exposure to the world of work, supporting them to develop key employability skills. This complements the firm’s existing degree-level apprenticeship programme in technology and financial services and its Aspiring Professionals Programme (APP). The APP, run in partnership with the Social Mobility Foundation, has supported over 850 young people since 2012 and expanded to the Glasgow office in 2023 - offering 45 students work experience in technology roles by 2025.

In addition to improving access to work experience at JPMorgan Chase, the firm is also working with the Careers and Enterprise Company and other non-profit organisations, committing £24 million in philanthropic support over five-years to help young people prepare for and access quality careers in growth sectors by:

Supporting non-profit organisations to connect secondary students and young adults from low-income and disadvantaged backgrounds to coaching, work placements and experiences to develop their work-readiness skills - ensuring that they can access their best next steps.
Running in-house programmes that offer young people workplace visits at the firm, pairing them with mentoring and skills sessions to equip them with the experience they need to succeed at JPMorgan Chase or other firms.

Helping Families Build Strong Financial Futures

Across the U.K., one in six people have no savings which leaves around a quarter of adults living without a financial safety net, forcing many to use credit or overdraft when facing unexpected expenses. For those with low or variable earnings, 80% have volatile pay and a lack of savings, meaning these individuals often struggle to maintain financial stability and plan ahead.

The firm’s commitment

The firm is committed to helping U.K. households and small business owners better navigate financial challenges and uncertainty. To support this commitment, its Payments business plans to launch an accelerator programme to support fintech founders focused on developing solutions that help improve financial health. By using these unique solutions, U.K. residents and businesses can be better equipped to manage their day-to-day finances and plan for their future. For low-income groups especially, the programme will help accelerate the development of sustainable financial management solutions, including providing access to growth funding or fintech founders that might otherwise have difficulty securing additional capital.

Building on its existing support for vulnerable customers, the firm’s retail bank, Chase, is working with leading debt advice non-profit, StepChange. The partnership helps Chase customers in need of expert debt advice. Through this support, Chase specialists direct vulnerable customers to the non-profit’s free online debt advice tool, helping them to understand the options available to them to reduce their debts and ensure they can afford important essentials such as food and housing.

As part of a new effort announced today, the firm is also working with Fair4AllFinance, Nest Insights and other non-profit organisations, committing £16 million in philanthropic support over five-years to help improve the financial health and resilience of people across the U.K. by:

Supporting non-profit organisations to test product innovations to help low-paid U.K. employees build buffers against financial shocks, allowing employers to help their employees prepare for unexpected and emergency expenses.
Working closely with community organisations to help provide a vital financial cushion for people unable to access or afford existing forms of credit, but can afford to repay small sums.

Five Years of Impact

Over the last five years, through its support for non-profit organisations, the firm has helped to support:

33,000+ low income households to reduce their debt and improve their financial health
10,800+ entrepreneurs to grow their businesses
9,000+ individuals to access apprenticeships or full and part-time employment

To learn more about the firm’s support to individuals and entrepreneurs, and lessons learned from its investment in U.K. communities read more here.

Comments on Driving Sustainable Economic Growth in the United Kingdom

"JPMorgan Chase's continued investment in the U.K. shows that our economic plan is working and that the economy is back on track. We welcome this significant investment by JPMorgan Chase which will improve job opportunities for young people and make financial management tools more accessible to help create a more resilient high growth economy.” said, Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer.

“We welcome the partnership with JPMorgan Chase to strengthen the small business ecosystem and support more diverse entrepreneurs and investors. As the U.K.’s economic development bank, we are committed to backing innovation and unlocking growth by ensuring entrepreneurs can access the finance they need regardless of where and who they are. We look forward to developing our partnership with JPMorgan Chase over the coming months and years.” said, Louis Taylor, Chief Executive Officer, British Business Bank.

"JPMorgan Chase have supported our work with young people for over a decade, and the partnership has made a huge difference. During that time they have directly supported over 850 young people to achieve their potential through the Aspiring Professionals Programme. Their funding has also helped us increase our reach across the U.K., develop our support in the changing labour market, and strengthen our organisation’s systems. We look forward to continuing our partnership and working together to grow our impact and enable more young people to succeed." said, Sarah Atkinson, Chief Executive, Social Mobility Foundation.

“The need to support financial wellbeing of people across the U.K. has never been more acute. Since 2017, JPMorgan Chase has given significant support to Nest Insight’s work. Their investment has enabled trials and exploratory research into new approaches which could help millions of people build savings pots for emergencies, increase their pension contributions and benefit from new ways to bridge financial resilience gaps. We look forward to continuing our partnership with JPMorgan Chase as part of their commitment to financial health." said, Will Sandbrook, Managing Director, Nest Insight.