Bank of Dave founder shocked after mum asks for loan to buy baby formula

Dave Fishwick, the founder of Burnley Savings and Loans, has said he was in shock when a mum asked for a loan to help her buy baby formula.

He said the young mother’s plea for help to feed her baby highlighted a ‘huge gap in society’, leaving many families struggling to buy essential items like food.

Mr Fishwick opened his community bank Burnley Savings and Loans – using the slogan ‘Bank on Dave!’ – in his hometown in 2011, with his story being told in the Netflix biopic ‘Bank of Dave’.

Speaking to BBC Radio Lancashire he said the cost of baby formula had ‘gone up and up and up’ with the cheapest brand raising its prices by ‘45% in two years’.

Mr Fishwick added that the woman’s desperate plea for a loan to feed her baby was something he had ‘never seen before’.

On Wednesday Danone announced it would be cutting the cost of its Aptamil powdered formula to British retailers by up to 7% after a regulator investigated rising prices in the baby milk market.

The investigation took place after firms were accused of ‘exploiting’ families.

Mr Fishwick continued: “There seems to be one side of life where there is these huge bonuses being paid to energy giants and banks, but then the other side we’ve got children starving.

“How does that work?”

The Lancashire businessman spoke of the jarring contrast between the move to scrap the cap on bankers’ bonuses last year, allowing them to earn ‘millions and millions of pounds’, compared to the shocking reality of parents asking to lend money so they can feed their children.

Mr Fishwick’s firm now funds a breakfast club at Colne Park High School, Lancashire, after the headteacher reported that many pupils were turning up to school hungry because parents were struggling to pay for meals.

Mr Fishwick added he wants more major companies ‘getting stuck in and doing their bit’ to help people who are struggling in the cost-of-living crisis.