Profile: John Maltby

As the economy hovers perilously between recession and stagnation, small businesses are desperate for a sympathetic hearing from the banks.

If you believe the banking sector’s critics, small and medium-sized firms (SMEs) are often subjected to a frosty rebuff.

It’s argued that the banks have wobbled between extremes. They were too generous in the good times but are now blighted by excessive caution, at a time when many well-managed firms are screaming out for help.

This view is being challenged by John Maltby, the commercial group director at Lloyds Banking Group. Lloyds is stepping up to the plate to back SMEs, he said, and he’s got the stats to prove it.

During a trip to Yorkshire to bang the drum for the bank’s role in supporting SMEs, Mr Maltby was keen to hear from his colleagues who were dealing with firms at the sharp end.

Yorkshire firms are getting a good deal from Lloyds, he argued.

“Lending in Yorkshire by Lloyds to SMEs grew by six per cent in the 12 months to March 2012,’’ he said. “This compares to a Lloyds national figure of a growth of four per cent and overall bank lending having fallen by four per cent.

“We have great momentum in the Yorkshire business and I have asked Martyn Kendrick (the area director) and his team to reach double figures in Yorkshire by the end of 2012.

“Nationally we want to continue our strong growth and beat the rest of the banking market by some way.”

The chimes with the announcement in November 2011 that Lloyds plans to step up lending to SMEs’ by targeting at least £12bn of loans next year. The activities of Lloyds affect us all, because it is 40 per cent state-owned following the financial crisis of 2008.

In February, it was revealed that lending by Britain’s top five banks shrank every quarter last year, which was an embarrassing blow to the Chancellor’s Project Merlin agreement.

Under Project Merlin, Britain’s top five banks said they would increase lending available to SMEs to £76bn this year and boost lending available to all businesses to £190bn. Royal Bank of Scotland, which is 83 per cent owned by the taxpayer, was blamed by many analysts for the shortfall in small business lending, after the other four lenders confirmed they had beaten their targets. Mr Maltby believes Lloyds can continue to outperform the market. He said: “Yorkshire is a priority and SMEs are a priority for us. The team that I’ve got in Yorkshire are really geared up and open for business and want to do more here. We know that the SME market is going to be key to the recovery of the economy in the UK. We need to increase the confidence of SMEs.”

As part of the strategy to boost SMEs, Lloyds has held hundreds of events to encourage more firms to crack the export market.

Mr Maltby said: “One of the big frontiers for export is the digital market place. The export market can be quite a scary place. You’ve got to find distribution agents. But if you’ve got a product that can be offered digitally, you’re already in a global market place.

“We can help them in terms of thinking through what digital can do for their business. We can offer business advice and also put them in touch with other businesses like theirs through our own network. We deal with about one million SMEs from throughout the UK.”

Lloyds also has a team of 200 experienced mentors who can help to fine-tune a company’s growth plans.

Mr Maltby said: “Running a small business is challenging enough. When you’re trying to change a small business into something different, sometimes you want that help and support.” But isn’t there a greater sense of obligation because the taxpayer played a significant role in supporting the bank during the dark days of 2008?

“Lloyds is tied into the UK economy,’’ said Mr Maltby. “We’re a UK-based retail and commercial bank. We need the UK to be successful.

“We’ve made public commitments, not just about growing our gross lending, but also our lending book is going to grow. If you want the UK to be successful, you’ve got to have successful SMEs. If you want to have successful SMEs you’ve got to do something to support them.

“Of course, the Government are pleased to see that we are doing that. If we weren’t doing that, they would be having some discussions with us. But it’s not something we’re doing because the Government has asked us to do it. We’re doing it because I think our objectives are the same. We want to get Britain’s businesses growing and moving again.”

An engineering science graduate from Durham university, Mr Maltby is a banking and professional services sector veteran with 30 years experience under his belt. After starting out as a member of British Steel’s graduate scheme, he moved to senior roles at Anderson Consulting, Barclays, Lombard and the Kensington Group, before joining Lloyds in 2007.

As director of commercial, he’s a key member of chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio’s management team.

Is Lloyds quite sensitive about executive pay following recent shareholder rebellions?

“We’re not an investment bank,’’ said Mr Maltby. “The total bonus pot for the bank is two or three per cent of income compared to 50 per cent of an investment bank. But I do think we are sensitive to it. So Antonio waived his bonus this year as an example. There’s a recognition that we have a determination to get the group back into profitability. We want to give the Government the opportunity to sell their shares.”

Could that be some time off, given the state of the market?

“We’ve got to keep supporting businesses and home owners, and do basic banking well,’’ he said. “As the UK economy recovers, our performance will be reflected in the share price and that will give the Government the options to sell, as and when they choose to do so.”

Mr Horta-Osorio believes the Halifax brand became lost following the takeover by Lloyds in early 2009, because management was so focused on the integration of Lloyds and HBOS. He is now committed to return the brand to its traditional roots.

There’s deep affection for the Halifax in its heartland, where people remember it as a powerful mutual. Many people were heartened by the multi-million pound re-launch of the Halifax last year, which drew on its building society roots.

Mr Maltby said: “If you look at our strategic review, the two things that stood out were Halifax and SMEs. It’s too early to say whether this will generate more jobs, but certainly it is a priority to continue to have Yorkshire, and the Halifax specifically, as a primary centre for Lloyds Banking Group.”

JOHN MALTBY FACTFILE

Name: John Maltby

Title: Group Director, Commercial, Lloyds Banking Group

Date of birth: January 21, 1962

Education: Bramcote Hills Grammar School, Nottingham; University of Durham

First job: British Steel – Engineering Graduate scheme

Favourite film: Ali (with Will Smith)

Last book read: Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Car driven: Lexus Hybrid

Favourite song: Geno (Dexy’s Midnight Runners)

What I am most proud of: Since 2009 we have helped 10,000 companies recover form financial difficulties, protecting 250,000 jobs in the UK