Customer-tailored bank celebrates £55m of lending in first year
MORE than £55m worth of lending has been agreed by Secure Trust Bank’s commercial finance arm in its first full 12-months trading period.
Although STB is a national organisation with offices in Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Newcastle, Bristol, London and the south coast, much of its senior management team is based in the North West and 14 out of its 20 specialists in commercial finance are in the Manchester office on Peter Street.
The AIM-listed bank launched in September 2014 with a goal to provide a full suite of asset- based lending solutions ranging from £500,000 to £30m in size.
It is already in the top 20 providers of asset-based lending in the UK and it has a portfolio of 70 clients, a third of which are in the North West.
Managing director of STB Commercial Finance John Bevan said its strength was based on Manchester where there has traditionally been a strong base of invoice discounters.
“This is because there is a predominance of manufacturing in the North West,” he told TheBusinessDesk. “A large part of our market supports the manufacturing sector.
“I’ve always lived in the North West. Historically, having commuted to London for the last 15 years, it’s great to be back in the region for purely selfish reasons – it made perfect sense.”
Bevan attributes much of the success of the first year of operation to the fact that many of STB’s senior team have worked in larger organisations.
“We know what customers want,” said Bevan. “They want solutions which are tailored to their business rather than a one-size-fits all approach.
“Another advantage is also in local decision-making. Above all our customers want end-to-end solutions to their working capital requirements.
“There’s got to be fast decision-making, aided by short lines of communication which enable you to move quickly.”
And STB is not a fair weather friend, said Bevan. The bank is committed to assisting companies in the turnaround sector.
“We have a very supportive people on the parent STB board.”
Meanwhile, wider group has also seen strong progress in 2015 with customer lending balances increasing 73% and growth in overall customer numbers of 33%.
Total income at Secure Trust Bank stood at £158.1m in 2015 – a 39% increase from £113.8m in 2014.
Bevan is by no means smug about STB’s success. “I don’t go in for bashing the big banks,” he added.
“I had a 31-year career in that sector. The high street banks are driven by a different mandate. They find it difficult to gain market share and they are constantly having to worry about cost control.”
