1. finance
2. bank

February 2015
SUPPORTING
BRITISH
BUSINESSES
In 2014 we met our SME Charter pledge to grow our lending by at least £1 billion net to SMEs.
We have made a further commitment to grow our lending to SMEs by £3 billion net over the
next three years.
Our year-on-year net growth in advances to SMEs was 5% in 2014, while across the industry
there was a net reduction of 2%. Overall this means our lending to SMEs has grown 19% net
since 2011, while it declined 16% across the industry as a whole during the same period.
At the start of 2014 we set a target to lend an additional £4 billion to manufacturing businesses
over the four years to December 2017. At the end of 2014 we were ahead of our target and
had provided £1.04 billion against this pledge.
We have published all our lending data for SMEs, mortgages and personal lending by postcode
sectors across the UK. It can be found on our website through our postcode lending calculator.
SUPPORT FOR GOVERNMENT
SCHEMES
Ø
We are continuing to offer competitively priced
lending to SMEs in all sectors for the life of their
loans with support from the Funding for Lending
Scheme.
Ø
We are taking part in a range of other
Government schemes designed to help
businesses get access to finance, including the
Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) Scheme. We
have supported over 6,200 EFG loans, worth more
than £520 million – around 23% of all loans granted
through the scheme so far. We continue to offer EFG
lending with no arrangement fees, where the
Government provides guarantees to the bank when
clients lack the necessary security.
Ø
Since 2013, we have offered grants through the
Regional Growth Fund (RGF) to support clients
looking to invest in assets but who lack the necessary
deposit for the purchase. We have now distributed
our full grant fund of £25 million from the
Government department for Business, Innovation &
Skills (BIS), supporting more than 370 clients and
lending over £100 million.
OUR FINANCIAL
SUPPORT FOR SMEs
Ø
Unlike many other banks,
local decision-making is an
important part of the service that
we offer our customers. In 2014
we doubled the amount our
most senior managers can lend
for renewals to £1 million, while
for new lending the maximum
is £500k. We are still approving
eight out of ten loan and
overdraft requests – a rate which
is independently verified and in
line with our long term average.
Ø
Ø
We offer 18 months free dayto-day banking for start-ups.
Our charges are transparent.
Through our Monthly
PricePlans, customers can
pay a simple, fixed monthly
fee to cover their day-to-day
banking transactions.
CONTINUED >>
IN NUMBERS
5%
YEAR-ON-YEAR NET
GROWTH IN ADVANCES
TO SMEs.
£1bn
NET INCREASE IN LENDING
TO SMES IN 2014.
8 out of 10
LOAN AND OVERDRAFT
REQUESTS APPROVED.
DOUBLED THE AMOUNT
OUR MOST SENIOR
MANAGERS CAN LEND
FOR RENEWALS TO
£1m
107,000
START-UPS SUPPORTED
IN 2014.
MORE THAN
56,000
JOBS PROTECTED
THROUGH OUR BUSINESS
SUPPORT UNIT IN 2014.
Ø
Our private equity division,
Lloyds Development
Capital (LDC), plays a crucial
role in supporting SMEs. In the
12 months ending December
2014, LDC invested over £248
million in 16 companies.
Ø
We are committed to
providing alternative
sources of finance for our
customers, including asset
based lending, trade finance and
community finance where we
have a partnership with Greater
London Enterprise. We are
providing funding of £5 million,
which will be lent on to microbusinesses across the Capital.
Ø
We’re also working closely
with the ‘Angels in the City’
investment community, having
joined forces with City of London
and London Business Angels.
Since April 2013, around 300
investors have attended the
various AITC workshops that we
have hosted.
Ø
We have announced a
new £50 million equity
fund for SME house builders
which is designed to help these
firms access capital for new
projects, and ultimately to help
THE COST OF
BORROWING
Ø
The absolute cost of
borrowing for Lloyds
Bank customers has more
than halved since 2007.
Ø
In August 2014, 86% of
Lloyds Banking Group’s
new variable rate term
lending to SMEs was at an
interest rate margin of 4%
or less over base rate.
Ø
Lloyds Bank’s
arrangement fee tariff
has not increased since 2008.
Ø
Lloyds Banking Group
has promised that
arrangement fees on loans
and overdrafts will not
be greater than 1.5% of a
customer’s facilities (subject
to minimum fees for small
facilities).
Ø
Since the beginning of
2012 we have made no
significant changes to credit
policies. Lloyds Banking
Group only seeks security
where appropriate, on a
case by case basis, reflecting
risk and type of facility.
tackle the issue of housing
supply and affordability.
THE
ECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENT
Ø
Our Business in Britain
report (January 2015)
shows that business confidence
fell from its record high in July.
However, business
expectations for total sales,
orders and profits in the next
six months remain positive and
above their long-term average.
Ø
Our SME customers still have
substantial headroom on
overdrafts. Less than 55% of our
borrowing facilities are being
drawn upon – lower than in 2009.
OUR BROADER
SUPPORT
FOR SMEs
Ø
Through our 2014
SME Charter we met a
series of pledges to help
support our customers.
These included:
•A pledge to help 100,000
new businesses start up
in the year. We beat this
commitment and helped
107,000 new businesses
start up in 2014.
•Our own Appeals Pledge,
which goes beyond industry
agreed guidelines. We have
committed to look at 90%
of customer appeals within
15 working days, and make a
goodwill payment wherever
a decision is overturned in
a customer’s favour.
• A commitment to grow our
provision of trade finance,
by 25% in order to support
SMEs and boost exports.
Ø
Through the Business
Finance Taskforce, we are
delivering 17 measures to help
businesses by improving
customer relationships,
ensuring better access to
finance and promoting a better
understanding of the industry.
We have been leading the
Business Finance Taskforce
mentoring initiative and
we now have more than
400 mentors across the UK,
more than any other bank.
Technology Centre, Coventry,
to address the sector’s skills
gap in the UK. The centre is
due to open later in 2015.
Ø
In partnership with the
University of Warwick,
the Warwick Manufacturing
Group, the Engineering
Employers’ Federation and the
Manufacturing Technologies
Association we have trained
more than 280 managers
across the UK in manufacturing
awareness to help enhance the
support we offer manufacturing
businesses.
Ø
Our Business Support Unit
(BSU) is continuing to
help businesses in financial
difficulties. Throughout 2014
it helped more than 1,600
businesses onto a sounder
financial footing and protected
56,000 jobs. Most of the
businesses helped were SMEs.
Ø
Ø
Ø
We are helping businesses
understand and act upon
the risks and opportunities
of sustainability. We have a
free of charge online tool to
help SMEs create their own
action plans and we have a
network of trained Business
and Environment Managers
to help provide guidance
and support. Working with
partners including the Eden
Project, local government,
Energy Saving Trust and
NISP, we run events and
workshops around the UK
that focus on the real business
benefits of sustainability.
Ø
Lloyds Banking Group
continues its support
of the UK manufacturing
sector. We have launched a
£1 million-a-year sponsorship
of the Lloyds Bank Advanced
Manufacturing Training
Centre at the Manufacturing
We are supporting our
business customers
through our network of over
2,000 customer facing staff, as
well as through our dedicated
internet site which received
more than two million views
a month throughout 2014.
Lloyds Banking Group has
committed £50 million to
Big Society Capital, to help
create a sustainable social
investment market in the UK.
Ø
We are investing £1 billion
in digital and mobile
services for our customers, to
help give them more choice
in how they bank with us. We
have launched a mobile app
for businesses, which means
customers can view their
account details and make
payments or transfers from
their mobile phones and we are
developing more ways for our
customers to interact with us
through digital channels.
Ø
We are a founding partner
of Go ON UK, the Digital
Skills charity. We provide a
range of online toolkits to
help improve businesses’
digital skills.