Benham Publishing Businesss Magazines December 2013 | Page 34

ChamberPolicy

Hertfordshire bankers, the Chamber
and businesses talk on best business
The Hertfordshire Chamber of Commerce and the British Bankers Association
jointly hosted a lunch on 13 September at which Hertfordshire bankers from
UK’s leading national banks and business leaders freely exchanged views on
relationships, banking services and financing. Yolanda Rugg, Chief Executive
of the Herts Chamber called for greater clarity, consistency and transparency
to build stronger relationships and trust between banks and business.

Suren Thiru, economics adviser for British
Chamber of Commerce — in recognising the
importance of bringing banks and businesses
together, particularly at this point in the
economy’s early phase of recovery — said that
the re-establishment of relationships is absolutely
vital to the region’s economic revival.
Irene Graham, British Bankers’ Association
managing director of business finance, said
that since the 2008 economic crash, a great
deal of change for the good has already
occurred, and much else was still in progress.
Government structures had improved, nonexecutive directors were now required to take
more active interest in day-to-day banking to
fully comprehend retail banking issues and the
Banking Policy Committee was scrutinising
economic developments to see what else
needs to happen for continued revival. She
had also seen the Parliamentary Commission’s
excellent work in creating safeguards to prevent
a banking crisis repeat.
Irene Graham reported that bank liquidity had
improved substantially and that the banks were
focused on their main business — lending
money for business growth. She and the
banking industry were aware that trust and
relationships had been broken over recent
years. The industry was working cohesively to
repair the damage. Now, she said, is the time
for transparency and honesty.
Several encouraging key messages emerged.
There is liquidity and a genuine will to lend, but
in the right way. Equity finance is good for startups through growth accelerator schemes and
angel investors. Enterprise finance and funding
schemes would support entrepreneurial and
business expansion ambitions, but the new
watchword was affordability, not security.
The business leaders spoke frankly of their
frustrations in working with their banks. Many of
their own clients or associates have struggled
with slow response to funding applications,

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being passed from pillar to post by banking
staff and banking jargon. This discourages
them from discussing their companies’
expansion or international trading hopes with
their bank managers.
Herts Chamber chief, Yolanda Rugg, believes
business mentoring for business owners would
help, and that there was also a fundamental
need for them to improve their own working
knowledge of company finance. The bankers
agreed, suggesting that customers bring in their
accountants to bank meetings early in the
planning stages, and to use their accountants’
expertise in drafting business plans; and not just
use their accountants for tax advice.
Businesses, for their part, said that consistency
across all the banks would help; operational
variances between the banks lead to confusion
and delay. A managing director of a leading
tourist event venue said she was frustrated with

having to repeatedly explain her business to
banking staff each time she communicated
with her branch. It was as though no-one
listened. The bankers admitted there had been
a severe lack of investment in back office
administration in staff in recent years, and were
addressing this.
The banks unilaterally agreed their most
pressing issu Rv2F