Knight to outline banks’ role in recovery

The chief executive of the British Banking Association, Angela Knight, will spell out the importance of the sector’s role in Manchester’s economy at next week’s Business & Professional Services conference.

Knight, who has been chief executive of British Banking Association for four years, is one of the keynote speakers at the conference at The Point in Old Trafford next Thursday, March 17.

She will argue that after an uncertain period the UK’s banking sector is “in a good place” with the two major banks, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group,  that had to be bailed out by the government now well on their way towards recapitalising and restoring balance sheets.

“The industry is open for business and that business is lending to the UK economy,” she told TheBusinessDesk.com.

She added that criticism of banks not lending enough was also misplaced as businesses were choosing to de-gear and pay down debt.

“Demand for for new overdrafts and loans remains low and deposit rates are high,” she said.

Moreover, criticism that the money being offered by banks to business was too expensive. Although the Bank of England’s base rate remains at just 0.5%, she said it has become “detached from the real economy”.

“If banks have to offer a 3% rate to attract savers, then they have to lend at quite a bit more than that,” she argued.

She said that she understood the banks had a commitment to assist with the economic recovery in areas like Manchester, which is “a major commercial centre and a focus for the north of England”.

She pointed to the BBA’s Business Finance Taskforce, headed by former Barclays chief executive John Varley, as the key initiative in driving new lending.

The centrepiece of the initiative is the Business Growth Fund – a £1.5bn fund co-invested by the major high street lending banks which will take equity stakes in growing companies with turnover of between £10m-£100m.

Other initiatives have also been set up for SMEs, including improved access to trade finance and advice on business planning.

Meanwhile the Manchester offices of the Big Four accountancy firms, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PwC have teamed up to jointly sponsor the event.

TheBusinessDesk.com is making available a limited number of tickets for the BPS conference at a special rate of £100. To take up this offer reader should email bpsconference@pro-manchester.co.uk with ‘CB business Desk’ in the title.