Provident police pimps

1 August 2001

[Provident HQ - Collonade House]

Bradford moneylenders Provident Financial are paying the police a "bonus" to move prostitutes from their doorstep.

The financial giants, who have grown to an estimated value of £2 billion from lending money at exorbitant interest rates to the very poor, are giving the newly formed Bradford South vice squad £15,000 a year for the service. In return the police will put on extra patrols around Provident's HQ at Colonnade House, Sunbridge Road.

Provident spokesman David Stephenson said "We are doing this to help the police make the Sunbridge Road and surrounding area safer for our staff by helping them reduce the rate of crime".

Many women turn to prostitution to help alleviate poverty and debt - indeed many are undoubtedly in debt to Provident. But the irony seems lost on the moneylenders, whose loans typically come with interest rates of 300% or more.

The move comes at a time when the city faces a mounting debt crisis, with the Consumer Credit Counselling Service reporting Bradford as 15th in the national league of "debt stress". Over a quarter of the population are said to live in poverty and that proportion is rising.

Provident "agents" who descend on poor housing estates and ply their trade door to door, have been nicknamed "poverty pimps" by their critics.

Sue, who lives on Thorpe Edge told KDIS:

"I hate Provident. They come into the estate like a plague of locusts. And once they've got their claws into you they never let go."

As one loan is paid off, more are offered, and the debt often mounts. The Citizens Advice Bureau last year reported debt enquiries had shot up by a third.

Provident, meanwhile, are reporting record half yearly profits - up 8% to £70 million. Their huge investment in Eastern Europe 3 years ago, set to target the large, poverty stricken estates in Poland and Czechoslovakia, is already showing a profit.

Last month embarrassment forced the Church of England to rid itself of its £12 million shares in the company.

Provident claim that they put some of their profits back into the community. In May this year they offered to loan part of their prestigious art collection to a Rhodesway upper school. Provident's private collection of 450 objects includes works by David Hockney, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth.

And the company helped sponsor of a community calendar which was widely distributed around Thorpe Edge, Ravenscliffe and Fagley 2 years ago. Their logo appeared on every page, but the move was branded a "cynical ploy" by local Lib Dem leader Jeannette Sunderland:

"It's a shame that the main advertising on the calendar is in the area of personal credit. Many people on council estates are caught in the poverty trap due to taking out personal loans from companies such as this one."

But big hearted Provident boss Howard Bell - himself a major player amongst Bradford's top quangos - showed that he isn't completely impervious to the plight of the poor. 2 years ago he pledged £10,000 a year for 4 years to help the charity "Christians Against Poverty" deal with debt misery. He spent a day with the charity, moving furniture around and watching debt counsellors at work. He told the T&A at the time:

"John Kirkby, who leads the charity, came to me with a four-year business plan which impressed me. But it is not all one way. Some of our staff are taking a look at Christians Against Poverty's computer packages which they use to deal with people's problems."