Lending Support and Standards

As your business grows, it can benefit from tailored lending and guidance. We will support your business throughout the application process. We also follow lending standards and principles to ensure you’re treated fairly.

• Our appeals process enables your business to pursue your application if you believe it has been wrongly declined or where we have agreed your request but there are conditions of sanction that you are unhappy with.
• We adhere to the Standards of Lending Practice, which are monitored and enforced by the LSB: www.lendingstandardsboard.org.uk

The Standards for business customers  apply to businesses/organisations, which at the point of lending;

• Have an annual t/o of no more than £6.5m in its last financial year, and;
• Which does not have a complex ownership structure.

To find out more you can read the statement of responsibilities, which details what’s expected of us, the lender and you the borrower.

If your business has an annual turnover of more than £6.5m, we follow the Lending Principles, which are a further set of standards that you can expect from us.

How we can help your business

Your business can:

• Get help and information on a range of topics – from establishing a business to operating globally.
• Use our finance application checklist, which details the type of information we may ask you for to support your lending application.
• Try Mentor SMEVisit the Mentor SME website., a free online service that helps you locate local mentoring to suit your business needs – from start-up to succession planning.
• Source other forms of lendingVisit the Better Business Finance website. by talking to your relationship manager.