A new bank has been launched with small businesses in mind in order to provide those worthy of credit with a better chance of obtaining it.
Shawbrook Bank will offer savings and lending, but no current account facilities and is backed by the Royal Bank of Scotland.
It is an amalgamation of Whiteaway Laidlaw Bank, Link Loans and the lending platform of Commercial First and will aim to lend £250 million to small and medium sized businesses over the next year.
This is a different sort of bank to those many small businesses will be used to dealing with and will not work through a branch network but through financial advisors and brokers.
Coming after criticism the government are not doing enough to ensure small businesses can gain credit and the Project Merlin Agreement that promised £76 billion would be available to small businesses this is a step in the right direction.
Owen Woodley, chief executive of Shawbrook, said: “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.”
