Santander UK
Source: gov.uk (2025-11-10)

We, the undersigned, commit to honour the Armed Forces Covenant and support the Armed Forces Community. We recognise the value Serving Personnel, both Regular and Reservists, Veterans and military families contribute to our business and our country.

The Armed Forces Covenant

An enduring covenant between the people of the United Kingdom, Her Majesty’s Government and all those who serve or have served in the Armed Forces of the Crown and their families

The first duty of Government is the defence of the realm. Our Armed Forces fulfil that responsibility on behalf of the Government, sacrificing some civilian freedoms, facing danger and, sometimes, suffering serious injury or death as a result of their duty. Families also play a vital role in supporting the operational effectiveness of our Armed Forces. In return, the whole nation has a moral obligation to the members of the Naval Service, the Army and the Royal Air Force, together with their families. They deserve our respect and support, and fair treatment.

Those who serve in the Armed Forces, whether Regular or Reserve, those who have served in the past, and their families, should face no disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public and commercial services. Special consideration is appropriate in some cases, especially for those who have given most such as the injured and the bereaved.

This obligation involves the whole of society: it includes voluntary and charitable bodies, private organisations, and the actions of individuals in supporting the Armed Forces. Recognising those who have performed military duty unites the country and demonstrates the value of their contribution. This has no greater expression than in upholding this Covenant.

Section 1: Principles of the Armed Forces Corporate Covenant

1.1 We Santander UK will endeavour in our business dealings to uphold the key principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, which are:
- no member of the Armed Forces Community should face disadvantage in the provision of public and commercial services compared to any other citizen;
- and in some circumstances that special treatment may be appropriate especially for the injured or bereaved.
Section 2: Demonstrating our commitment

2.1 Santander UK recognises the value serving personnel, reservists, veterans and military families bring to our business. We will seek to uphold the principles of the Armed Forces Covenant, by pledging to the following:
- Armed Forces Friendly
- UK Service Veterans And Leavers
- UK Service Spouses And Partners
- Flexible Leave For Spouses
- UK Reservists
- Armed Forces Day
- Reserve Forces Day
- Armed Forces Charities
We also pledge the following:

Promoting the Armed Forces: promoting the fact that we are an Armed Forces-friendly organisation, to our staff, customers, suppliers, contractors and wider public. Encouraging employees that are serving in the forces, reservists or family members within Santander, to talk openly and share their experiences with the broader colleague base. We will use our internal communication platform to facilitate these communications. Veterans: supporting the employment of veterans, recognising military skills and qualifications in our recruitment and selection process; working with the Career Transition Partnership (CTP) to support the employment of Service leavers, including making sure that there are no barriers to interview for individuals who meet the minimum role requirements. We will also actively promote and encourage work placements for service leavers. Service Spouses & Partners: supporting the employment of Service spouses and partners; partnering with Forces Families Jobs and Recruit for Spouses; and providing flexibility in granting leave for Service spouses and partners before, during and after a partners deployment. We will also continue to consider flexible working requests in relation to hours and location for Service Spouses and Partners. We will provide additional support through our Military Network. Reserves: supporting our employees who are members of the Reserve Forces; granting an additional 10 days paid leave above the additional requirement, with consideration of additional unpaid leave requests for annual Reserve Forces training; supporting any mobilisations and deployment; actively encouraging members of staff to become Reservists; providing existing Reservists with support through our Military Network. National Events: supporting Armed Forces Day, Reserves Day, the Poppy Appeal Day and Remembrance activities. Armed Forces Charities: supporting Armed Forces charities with fundraising and supporting colleagues who volunteer to assist. Continuing to offer our Matched Donations scheme to colleagues who have undertaken fundraising activities for UK registered charities to receive an additional sum by way of matched donation from Santander Foundation, subject to application approval. Vulnerability Support: continuing to develop and enhance our vulnerability programme, which aims to increase internal knowledge of specialist customer requirements, and therefore acknowledge and support individuals in the Armed Forces community through times of difficulty and uncertainty. Wellbeing Support: continuing to offer support for colleagues in our internal Armed Forces community, and their immediate families through our Employee Assistance Programme, which provides independent help and support through telephone information and guidance, counselling and critical incident support. Commercial Support: continuing to support Armed Forces personnel, through the ability to move from a residential to a buy to let mortgage at no additional cost, and retaining their current mortgage rate. Continuing to operate Credit policies that ensure service personnel and dependents are not disadvantaged as a result of potential gaps in their address or credit history as a result of overseas service.

2.2 We will publicise these commitments through our literature and/or on our website, setting out how we will seek to honour them and inviting feedback from the Service community and our customers on how we are doing.