Banks 'taking steps to get closer to small businesses'

Angela Knight was speaking to academics and entrepreneurs at the Rose Bowl in Leeds Business School last night on the subject of 'The Banking Evolution – and there is more to come'.

Speaking to the Yorkshire Post before the event, Ms Knight said the financial system was much more stable and there were some grounds for cautious optimism.

She said most banks had survived the financial crisis quite well.

Although she welcomed plans by the Financial Services Authority to hire 460 extra investigators, Ms Knight warned: "Bad supervision is no good to us either."

Responding to concerns that the banks weren't doing enough to help small businesses, she said: "You have got a chunk (of small business customers) who are satisfied, you always hear from those who are discontented."

Ms Knight said that banks were taking steps to get closer to their small business customers.

She added: "We have gone from good times to bad times very quickly indeed.

"You have to be over 40 to have worked properly in the previous recession. It's not surprising that both sides have made mistakes.

"Lending to smes (small and medium-sized enterprises) has increased but we recognise that there are a lot of issues ahead."