26 corporate finance
Fresh NatWest support for fledgling businesses
NatWest will be providing a ’New Year bonus’ with a fresh long-term supportive focus on startups and fledgling businesses.
The ongoing initiative is underpinned by the new NatWest division – commercial & private banking (C&P) – created to serve commercial businesses with a £2 million-plus turnover and UK-focused corporates.
It will
be highlighted by the establishment during 2016/17 of a series of accelerator hubs for young entrepreneurial businesses. One of the first in England was launched in Brighton this September.
NatWest, in partnership with Entrepreneurial Spark and KPMG, will be providing a UK network of free business accelerator hubs – entrepreneurial ’hatcheries’ – supporting up to 7,000 entrepreneurs over the next five years.
Alison Rose (pictured), CEO of C&P, interviewed by John Burbedge, revealed that in Scotland, where accelerator hubs were trialled, the survival rate after two years of ’hatcheried’ startups was 80% – roughly double the national average.
The hubs will provide entrepreneurs with free facilities – supportive business and financial advice, coaching and networks – to ensure they are given the best possible chance of success, explained Rose.
This autumn, NatWest also launched its Entrepreneurship Monitor, compiled by Populus, which revealed that nearly half (46%) of Britons would prefer to be self-employed. Additionally, a record 27% of potential entrepreneurs think now is a good time to set up their own business.
With the research showing a significant drive and demand for entrepreneurialism held back by a lack of business knowledge, NatWest is helping to fill that gap through its business accelerator hubs.
“Starting up as an entrepreneur can be a pretty lonely place. With perhaps a main job and family to maintain, trying to take your great idea and get it to something that is a viable business can be very difficult,“ said Rose.
“A big differential for entrepreneurs would be in getting the right advice and support to help them start their business.“ With its experience and resources NatWest aims to provide that help.
A lot of entrepreneurs are not bank-ready customers, and bank debt is not always the funding answer for startup and early stage businesses, Rose pointed out. “We aim to open up the business eco-system to provide the right type of support and funding for those businesses.“
However, NatWest is very much ’open for business’. “We supported over 52,000 startup business in the 2015 first half, 23% of all new startups seeking banking services, Rose added.
“Starting new business is the lifeblood of an economy and the more we can help start up and survive, the better it is for the UK economy as a whole.“
Alongside these customer-focused entrepreneurial initiatives NatWest has undergone extensive internal restructuring to streamline processes and gain closer interaction with business clients.
NatWest is already the largest lender to UK business, but Rose revealed: “We are now very focused on rebuilding the bank for the future, putting our customers at the heart of everything we do, and making sure we can deliver for them. Our ambition is to be the number one bank for service, trust and advocacy by 2020.“
NatWest has invested in training, resilient technology, process simplification, faster decision-making, services and products at the best prices, with no hidden surprises – all addressing concerns that customers have raised.
A new style of relationship banking is promised by Rose. Back-office changes have freed-up relationship managers to spend more time with their customers.
Relationship managers have received extra capability training in Chartered Institute of Bankers-accredited professional skills. “When customers meet our people they will be talking to the best-trained, best-qualified bankers on the street.
“We want to build long-term relationships; have an ongoing dialogue; be bankers who really understand customers’ needs and can help them achieve business success.“
Businesses cash in on crowdfunding
Nine out of 10 participants in an economic bellwether survey would now consider crowdfunding to raise money for new ventures.
The increasingly-warm sentiment towards borrowing money from fundraising platforms, in addition to traditional lenders like the mainstream banks, emerged in the latest quarterly Enterprise Index by Smith & Williamson, the accountancy and investment management group.
Jamie Lane, assurance and business services associate director at the firm’s South Coast office in Southampton, said: “More than 90% of participants felt that, should their businesses require investment, they would consider using crowdfunding as a means to secure it.
“This demonstrates an incredible awareness of crowdfunding, a financing technique which barely existed five years ago.“
www.businessmag.co.uk
Crowdfunding, also known as peer-to- business lending, involves a large number of investors contributing funds and receiving returns on their money at various interest rates, depending on the level of risk. Deposits are usually made via the Internet.
More than 90% of participants felt that, should their businesses require investment, they would consider using crowdfunding as a means to secure it
According to a report commissioned by Fiserv, a global provider of financial services technology solutions, alternative finance could be worth £12.3 billion a year by 2020 in the UK.
Lane added: “A recent government consultation surrounding the use of crowdfunded investments in ISAs highlights that this is being considered as an increasingly-important way of raising funds.“
There were 151 participants from the UK’s SMEs who took part in the latest survey, which ran from mid-July through to the end of September.
Separately, the Index found that 87% of SME owners thought the Government should provide more support to help businesses export.
Lane said: “Many are unaware that research and development (R&D) activity undertaken by UK SMEs to enable them to export would attract R&D tax credits. This can be helpful as part of a suite of financing options that will make it easier for businesses to trade internationally.“
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SOLENT & SOUTH CENTRAL – DECEMBER 15/JANUARY 16
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