Pennine Community Credit Union becomes Northern Community Bank as its presence spreads across the North

A long-standing East Lancashire credit union has changed its name to Northern Community Bank, reflecting its growing presence across the North of England.
Founded more than 40 years ago in Pendle, Pennine Community Credit Union (PCCU) began life as a small savings club. Over the decades, it has grown into a trusted financial co-operative with tens of thousands of account holders – not just in the Pennine region, but increasingly in Cumbria, Preston, Lancaster and beyond.

The decision to change the name comes as more than a third of account holders now live outside the community bank’s original heartland.

CEO Kathryn Fogg spoke enthusiastically about the launch of the new community bank

“We are excited to introduce Northern Community Bank. After expanding our services across Lancashire and into Cumbria, we realised we needed to be more inclusive of all the communities we serve. We look forward to welcoming more account holders from across the North with the same friendly service we have provided since 1982.”

The rebrand also sees the organisation move away from the term ‘credit union’, which some people still associate with barriers or bureaucracy. The new name is designed to be simpler and more inclusive.

Owned and governed by its account holders as a co-operative, the community bank prioritises people in every decision…

Despite the new look, the organisation insists that its founding values remain unchanged. President Gerard Spain, who has been involved in the organisation since the day it started, passionately talked about the positive impact the community bank has had in the community

“We’ve been on an amazing growth journey to serve 17,000 people across the North. To be trusted to look after £21million in assets on behalf of the community is brilliant. Last year, we welcomed 1,800 new account holders, with 97% telling us they were happy with the service – the Northern Community Bank chapter of our story will continue to put people at the heart of everything we do and help even more people.”

Northern Community Bank offers savings accounts, personal loans, and budgeting support — all without hidden fees or gimmicks. As a not-for-profit organisation, it avoids one-size-fits-all approaches, offering personalised solutions that remove unnecessary obstacles.

Owned and governed by its account holders as a co-operative, the community bank prioritises people in every decision, ethically reinvesting profits back into the community and sharing them annually as rewards to account holders.

At the launch of the new brand, Chief Operating Officer Tia Warbrick outlined the direction the Northern Community Bank planned to travel in 2025. As figures released in May showed that there is £280 billion sitting in UK accounts earning no interest, the community bank will concentrate on supporting the community to grow their savings

“We will continue to improve the services for the community, whilst aiming to repeat the £1.1m share of profits we returned to account holders in 2025. We have released a competitive 4.5% 1-year Fixed Term account and a new interest-bearing savings account to encourage regular saving, concentrated effort into young savers, whilst continuing to improve the ‘Money Matters’ education suite and making it easier to access affordable lending. Our purpose is to make managing money easier for everyone”. For further information on our products and services, see Northern Community Bank