‘A lack of common sense’ over lending

New specialist savings and lending bank Shawbrook Bank was launched this week. It specialises in the small business market, offering finance for businesses from £50,000 to £1m. It aims to lend £250m to small businesses in the next year. Shawbrook has chosen to distribute its banking products through brokers rather than using a branch network.

York-based Acorn Commercial Finance was appointed as one of its specialist brokers to cover the Yorkshire area but also to partner with the bank to better look after the licensed and hospitality trade nationwide.

Meanwhile, 43 per cent of the SMEs questioned in the region for the survey, commissioned by Shawbrook Bank, said they feel banks are too bureaucratic when dealing with small businesses. Six per cent said they feel confident that banks are clear and transparent in their dealings with small business customers. Over 800 SMEs across the UK were questioned.

Owen Woodley, chief executive of Shawbrook Bank, said: “At a time when SMEs should be given all the help they need to grow and succeed, it’s worrying that so many feel they are up against a loan application system that is unclear and obstructive.

“Having access to the right finance at the right time is vital for an expanding small business and so is having a straightforward and efficient lending process. It’s all very well for a bank to say the money for SMEs is there to lend, but if the process is bureaucratic and inflexible it means nothing but lost opportunities.

“We’ve chosen to operate through brokers rather than a branch network which makes us efficient and agile, and we make fast, robust decisions based on common sense and knowledge of our customers – not a computer score.”