Handelsbanken’s growth ‘is not about size, but closeness’

Handelsbanken is marking its 25 years in Birmingham this summer as the bank looks forward to the next phase of its development in the UK.

The Swedish bank has been quietly growing its presence in the city throughout the last two decades and now has three branches and its regional headquarters in Birmingham.

Nick Lowe, the head of Handelsbanken’s central region, said: “It was 25 years ago that we started here in Birmingham with four people in branch. From small acorns do great oaks grow.”

While one of its original four people, Jonathan Allen, is still with the bank, Handelsbanken now has 15 branches across the West Midlands.

“But it’s not about size for us, it’s about being a bit closer to our customers,” added Lowe.

“We have a saying in Handelsbanken: ‘the branch is the bank’.”

Handelsbanken first came to the UK in 1982, 111 years after the bank was formed in Sweden, with a branch in London followed by expansion to Manchester.

It arrived in Birmingham in 1993, with Handelsbanken recently holding an event for customers and the business community at Birmingham’s Council House marking the bank’s 25-year anniversary.

Tony Hall, who ran its Temple Row branch before opening and leading its Edgbaston office, said: “We have worked hard over 25 years in Birmingham to grow from a bank that nobody had heard of. Putting in the hard yards, knocking on doors.

“There’s a lot of passion – people really believe in the bank and customers tell us that they recognise that and that’s really important to us.”

Although geographic growth was slow to begin with – Nottingham became Handelsbanken’s fourth UK branch in 2000 – it then accelerated with the bank opening its 100th branch in 2011.

“Today we have 208 branches covering the country,” said Handelsbanken UK’s chief executive Mikael Sorensen, on a visit to Birmingham. “I am convinced there will be more branches going forward.”

Brexit has required the bank to consider making changes to its structure and Sorenson says he is “excited” by plans to change Handelsbanken’s legal set-up in the UK.

“We are very far in our preparations for establishing a new plc in the UK, called Handelsbanken plc, and transferring out activities to that,” he said.

“The more we work on this project, and the closer we get to the finishing line, the more convinced we all get that this is the right thing to do – with or without Brexit.

“It will move our expertise closer to the branches and closer to our customers.”