Co-operative Bank is a friend of small businesses

Despite the fact that the UK banking arena is under severe pressure regarding reduced liquidity in the small-business lending arena the Co-operative Bank yesterday released figures confirming it has doubled its own small-business lending to £1.2 billion over the last three years. Total corporate lending from the Co-operative Bank also increased over the same period, rising from £5.7 billion to £8 billion despite the fact we are in one of the most difficult economic environments in living history.

While there is no doubt that a number of the larger banking institutions in the UK appear reluctant to increase their own liquidity in the small-business arena how is it that the Co-operative Bank has been so successful?

In a normal market where competition is intense you would expect to see a shifting of focus from the small-business arena to the Co-operative Bank although in many cases companies are effectively tied to their current banking arrangements. Therefore, even though the Co-operative Bank has increased competition in the small-business arena we cannot take it for granted that the likes of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Bank and other leaders in the UK will follow suit. The UK banking arena is a very different animal to the rest of the UK economy!