NatWest supports the region’s SMEs

With over 1.2million of the country’s small businesses banking with NatWest and RBS, we genuinely understand the challenges they currently face and continually respond to feedback by offering further support and reassurance when they need it most. 

Warren Mulvihill Regional Director, Business & Commercial Banking for NatWest in Kent and Thames Gateway is committed to helping new and existing business relationships and is supported by local Directors Mark Burgess, Wayne Parker, Chris Pye, Robert Rowbotham, Dara Chauhan, Laurence Backler, Steve Clare and Mark Reed. They work across the region’s eight Banking Centres with a team of almost 100 dedicated relationship managers providing a suite of bespoke financial solutions to local businesses. This includes Lombard asset finance, RBS Invoice Finance and Global Transaction Services. It also benefits from a broad range of specialist teams including healthcare, professionals, property, a variety of trading business and Structured Debt Solutions, which provides acquisition advice and funding.

Initiatives available from the Bank to help SMEs include the Government’s Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme (“EFG”), competitive priced funding via the European Investment Bank Loan (EIB), SME Customer Charter (where we have given a promise not to increase pricing on committed overdrafts until at least the end of 2010 unless the risks associated with lending to the business have increased), a £1billion ‘Manufacturing Fund’ of new loans available on competitive, flexible terms to manufacturing businesses, as well as traditional banking facilities and lines of credit.

The Bank has a duty to lend responsibly to commercially viable businesses and in addition to these initiatives has a Business Hotline manned by experienced bankers who will try to help those businesses, customers or not, who have had facilities declined and would like their position reviewed.