Established in 1672 at the Sign of the Golden Bottle and owned continuously by the Hoare family for 12 generations, C. Hoare & Co. is the UK’s oldest privately owned bank. The partners today are stewards of a unique and evolving culture built on personal trust and outstanding customer service.

Family values

Underpinned by Hoare family values of honesty, empathy, excellence and social responsibility, personal relationships are the heart of our business. We enjoy working with individuals and families who share our values, and are pleased to work with their businesses too. We take time to understand exactly what is important to them and how best we can help them prosper. These high standards of care extend to the world around us: the partners donate up to 10% of the bank’s annual profits to charitable causes via the Golden Bottle Trust, while our Master Charitable Trust helps customers make the most of their own charitable giving.

"Close, confidential relationships allow us to anticipate our customers’ needs and our values inform our decisions at every level of the business."

Alexander Hoare

Small and secure

As a small, independent bank, we are able to agree individual arrangements with speed and flexibility. The partners’ unlimited liability and conservative attitude to risk provides an extra level of security: having weathered three industrial revolutions, the Wall Street Crash and successive global crises, we have a strong reputation as a safe haven for our customers’ wealth.  

We recognise, however, that financial affairs have grown more complex since our founder took his neighbours’ gold into keeping. Relationship managers gain deep understanding of each customer’s needs and aspirations to provide bespoke 21st-century banking complemented by online and mobile services.