Yorkshire Bank increases lending levels 62%

YORKSHIRE Bank has increased its lending to business by 62% in the past six months, advancing £2.1bn to new customers.

The bank said its Financial Solutions Centres, such as its one in Temple Row in Birmingham, were proving a useful conduit for channelling lending to high growth businesses.

The bank’s Midlands regional director Brian Colquhoun said its intention was to continue supporting such businesses, in order to help them achieve growth targets.

He cited the example of Absolute Care Homes (Central) Ltd in Erdington. The bank is financing the company to the tune of £5m to enable it to construct a new 68-bedroom care home for elderly people with dementia. The new home is expected to open in March next year.

“Despite the subdued market demand for credit, we have continued to offer genuine financial choice in the market.  This, coupled with the attraction of the banks’ innovative integrated Financial Solutions (iFS) approach, has resulted in an up-tick in new business customers in the past six months,” he said.

“We have a strong appetite for quality trading businesses across all sectors and have also increased the number of business banking centres in the UK.”

He said the bank remained on track to deliver its promise of £10bn of new lending to UK business and mortgage customers by October 2011.

Overall the bank has advanced £8bn of new lending in the last 18 months, which it said was a strong illustration of its commitment to growth.