Salad has officially received its King’s Award for Enterprise for Innovation, recognising the technology and approach behind its work to widen access to fair and affordable credit.
OCTOBER 2026
Salad was officially presented with its King’s Award for Enterprise for Innovation at a ceremony in Brighton, attended by customers, colleagues, partners and supporters of the business.
The award was presented by The Lord-Lieutenant of East Sussex, Andrew Blackman CStJ, following Salad being named a King’s Award winner earlier this year. Salad believes it is the first retail lender to receive the recognition in the 60-year history of the awards.
The King’s Award recognises Salad’s innovation in using Open Banking and proprietary technology to assess affordability based on applicants’ real income and expenditure, rather than relying solely on traditional credit scores. That approach has enabled Salad to serve people who can afford to borrow but may be overlooked by mainstream lenders.
The ceremony also brought the impact of that work to life. Salad customer Zak shared his experience of needing a small loan for an essential boiler repair after serious illness had affected his credit score. After successfully repaying his Salad loan, his financial position improved significantly and he has since gone on to run his own businesses.
Receiving the award, Salad CEO Craig Pennington spoke about the wider consequences of being unable to access affordable credit, while founder Alan Campbell reflected on the personal experiences that led him to create Salad and thanked the team, partners and investors who have helped build the business.
Salad has now supported more than 200,000 customers, demonstrating how technology can be used not simply to make lending faster, but to create a more inclusive way of assessing people and their financial circumstances.
Read the full story on the Salad Finance website here.