DARLINGTON Credit Union boss Tony Brockley is on a mission to bring ethics back to financial services.

Restoring the shine to an industry tarnished by miss-selling scandals and rip-off pay day loans might be asking too much, but after a career working for traditional lenders Mr Brockley is now helping DCU win approval from some very influential people.

Last month its smart new premises on the bend where Tubwell Row meets Crown Street hosted a visit from Bank of England heavyweight Andrew Bailey who declared himself "massively impressed" by DCU's efforts to help people put their financial affairs in order.

Most Reverend Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury and former Bishop of Durham, is another fan of credit unions.

Nationally, the credit union movement is on the march, with UK membership doubling over the past decade to 1.1 million people. DCU is experiencing record demand. Its client base is changing too, explains Mr Brockley.

"Traditionally it was about getting people away from doorstep lenders and loan sharks," he says, "The big new phenomenon is that young people have found it too easy to access finance online from Wonga, Amigo etcetera.

"We don't have the budget to match them but thanks to the offer of free advertising from yourselves at the Echo awareness has grown. We pick up the debris after people have been to payday lenders and consolidate their loans. We helped someone who had debts of £7,000 and was paying back £1,000 a month so now they pay less than £200 a month and can see a date on the horizon when it will get paid off. It is life changing stuff."

Mr Brockley joined Lloyds Bank aged 18, much to the delight of his mother who had earlier been dismayed when her son hadn't gone straight from St Mary's Grammar School and become the first member of the family to go to university.

"When I told her I was joining a bank I just about managed to redeem the situation because at the time (1974) banks were THE place to be and regarded as jobs for life," he says.

Banking has been at the heart of Mr Brockley's life ever since.

While he was at Lloyds he met Cath who later became his wife.

"By the time we decided to get married we were working in London but decided to have the ceremony at St Augustine's in Darlington. We asked our parents to get on with the arrangements while we got on with working. About three days beforehand we came up. Cath had her dress fitting and I rented my top hat and tails at Affleck & Moffatt.

"As part of the deal for holding our wedding reception at the King's Head we got a room there for the night. After the guests had dispersed we said: ‘Well, what are we going to do now?’ "

Before you jump to any conclusions, Mr Brockley reveals that the newlyweds made the unusual decision to join Cath's parents for a game of bingo at Darlington's Rafa club.

During a 36 year career Mr Brockley held senior roles at the Nationwide and Alliance & Leicester. He says: "I was in the Leicester head office on the day news of Northern Rock's problems came through. It was quite frightening how quickly things changed. Suddenly desks were being cleared and over the next few months you would walk into an office full of people on phones and computers and the next week the room was empty."

After taking voluntary redundancy Mr Brockley brought his vast experience to lead the project for Darlington's four credit unions to come together.

He says: "The biggest challenge was raising awareness. If anyone had a meeting and wanted someone to bore them for 15 minutes I was your man. There can't be many churches in Darlington where I haven't spoken from the pulpit.

"We got a lot of support from Darlington Borough Council and Student Loans Company - gradually the seeds we sowed built a momentum. We now have almost 6,000 members."

As credit unions grow and offer more products - DCU later this year will offer accounts online - many are rebranding themselves as community banks. Mr Brockley is keen to move with the times and retain the union's traditional values.

He says: "The two parts of our name tell you everything you need to know. They give us roots. If people understand the history of credit unions they will understand the ethics behind what we do. And the name Darlington, well, it speaks for itself."