Business as usual

With all the recent headlines about banks lending (or not lending) to businesses, it feels like the right time to put down some thoughts on our position at the Bank – and how we think we can help. In a nutshell, it’s this: we’re very much open for business in terms of lending. Yes, we have money earmarked for lending to small and medium sized businesses, and yes, we’re actively looking for viable and growing British businesses to come to us about it. We’ve also just launched sizeable, dedicated funds for manufacturing, green enterprise, healthcare and more – and they’re there to be used.So much for the funds. Nobody’s pretending that the existence of funds is the same as having those funds being accessed by UK businesses as fully as they could be – which is, after all, what we all want. So what more can we do to get the two – viable UK businesses and our finance – together?

Clearly, one issue is that of business confidence levels. The Bank needs to help businesses feel that they can borrow, and move forward successfully with us and all the expertise and backing we can offer.

Part of that backing will come from the Bank helping businesses to mitigate or remove the risks associated with borrowing while we also commit to long-term to a long-term partnership. We don’t simply want to lend the money and then disappear for the loan term.

From that point of view, we’re prioritising the increased participation in businesses by our Bank’s network of Relationship Managers who are all committed to spending time actually in their clients’ businesses, learning about their operations and requirements at the sharp end.

We hope this will improve dialogue between the Bank and British business – something of which this website, indeed this blog itself, is a part. We also hope it will make you feel more able to come and talk to us about the funding options we can offer – whether you drop in to your local branch or pick up the telephone. And as for what else we can do? Tell me your thoughts, and I can promise you whatever it is, we’ll consider it. After all, open dialogue is one of the things we’ll be depending on to improve our understanding of the ways in which we can help you.