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Age UK is a registered charity in the United Kingdom, formed on 25 February 2009 and launched on 1 April 2009, as a merging of Age Concern and Help the Aged.
Despite the national merger, many local Age Concern charities decided not to become brand partners of Age UK and continued as independent and completely separate Age Concerns and remain so to this day.
The charity operated as "Age Concern England and Help the Aged" until the new brand launch on 19 April 2010. The brand also includes separate but interdependent charities for the UK regions: Age Scotland, Age Cymru and Age NI, and an international charity, Age International.
The merger was the largest among charities in the UK since that of the Cancer Research Campaign and Imperial Cancer Research in 2002 to form Cancer Research UK. Third Sector online article, retrieved 1 April 2009
Age UK also has a commercial arm, AgeCo Limited (formerly Age UK Enterprises Limited) operating under the brand name Age Co. It sells products and services designed for later life with its profits given back to the charity. The current range includes insurance, legal services, funeral plans, personal alarms, bathing solutions, stairlifts and homelifts.
The merger was first confirmed in September, when Dianne Jeffrey was confirmed as the new chair of trustees.
Tom Wright CBE, previously chief executive of VisitBritain and Trustee of the Imperial War Museum, was appointed Chief Executive of the new charity in November 2008. Tom Wright resigned in June 2017 to become the new Chief Executive of Guide Dogs.
In 2018, Steph Harland was appointed CEO, and Sir Brian Pomeroy Chair of Trustees.
From the 1950s, the NOPWC accessed government and local funds associated with the post-war development of the welfare state to provide services to local committees and training to wardens of old people's homes.
In 1971, under the direction of David Hobman, the NOPWC changed its public name to Age Concern and separated itself entirely from government and the National Council for Social Service (now NCVO). It did so while also launching a "manifesto for old age" and establishing itself nationally as a lobbying body.
The directors of Age Concern England have included Hobman, Sally Greengross, and Gordon Lishman.
In 1986, Age Concern established an Institute of Gerontology at King's College London, into which it folded its own Age Concern Research Unit.
In January 2016, it was announced that Age UK's would be one of the chosen charities for Santander UK's The Discovery Project alongside Barnardo's. As well as giving financial donations to the charity project, Santander will also allow staff to volunteer on the phonelines.
In 2019 it was claimed that Age UK was sending users through its commercial arm (Age Co) to an equity release advice service provided by Hub Financial, a company wholly owned by Just Group. While customers were told that Hub compared deals from a panel of five providers, its advice process was structured so that in most cases a customer would be offered a deal by just one panel member, namely Just.'Age UK equity release deals under fire', Adam Williams, The Daily Telegraph, 4 May 2019
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