RBS 2009 Annual Report Download - page 27

25RBS Group Annual Report and Accounts 2009
Divisional review
UK Corporate
Did you know?
5,000
We are providing
new loans to over 5,000
businesses per week
One of the ways we respond to customers’ needs is by finding better
methods of serving them. In 2008, we piloted a branch dedicated to
business customers, in Colchester. It worked well, so we rolled out a
further four business branches in 2009. Each branch has two business
experts positioned at the front of the banking hall, supported by teams
who have been specially trained to meet our business customers’ needs.
Our customers like what we’ve done. Their comments show that 91%
were very satisfied with what the business branch offers and 86% were
prepared to recommend the service. Our research showed that in
December 2009, Relationship Directors in Branch Business Banking who
have a dedicated business branch earned considerably higher customer
satisfaction scores than their peers who don’t have that service. Four of
the five branches received 100% scores in mystery shopping exercises.
During a recession some customers need extra help. We have a
Specialised Relationship Management team made up of 500
experienced bankers, many of whom have worked through previous
downturns. They monitor how customers are doing and can spot when
a customer seems to be facing particularly difficult trading conditions.
That allows us to give these customers close, one-to-one help until their
business is returned to health.
We have also strongly supported government actions to keep business
moving. Under the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG), the government
guarantees 75% of a loan to firms with a turnover of up to £25 million.
We have led the field, offering loans worth more than £283 million to
over 2,500 SMEs under the scheme. By early January 2010, £258 million
of that had been drawn down, 42% of the total drawn under the EFG
from all banks.
In February 2009, we launched our SME Regional Funds. Worth an
extra £3 billion, these are 12 funds of £250 million each, which we made
available to all nine Regional Development Agency (RDA) areas in England,
and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (provided by Ulster Bank).
Our strong support for the EFG, our SME Regional Funds and other
initiatives demonstrate our determination to meet our Business Lending
Commitments agreed with the Government. We set up a task force that is
responsible for making sure we meet the Commitments. We have
developed closer links with RDAs and other government bodies.
And, of course, we continue proactively to look for ways to help SMEs.
We are currently approving 85% of all business applications for credit
and providing new loans to over 5,000 businesses each week. But
demand has been weak, making our Commitments tough to meet. If all
of our business customers had fully utilised the facilities we offered
them, we would comfortably have exceeded our Commitments target.
We continue to work with our customers in other ways too. In 2009, we
played a lead role in helping UK corporate clients raise funding from bond
markets more often than any other bank. And we participated in 80% of
all equity fundraising from the stock market for UK corporates in 2009.
These actions show that we take serving our customers seriously. Without
being complacent, it’s working. Business & Commercial Banking and
Corporate & Institutional Banking both maintained their market-leading
customer satisfaction scores. This tells us that our people were out there
doing the right things for customers, despite the challenges we faced.
2009 was also the year we set about dealing with our past and making
sure we can grow sustainably in future. The APS and EU divestment
deals have been agreed. We completed our strategic review and we are
implementing the plan. Our cost reduction actions have already saved
substantial sums.
We are investing in our people and technology, and our impairments
programme is allowing us to manage the impact of bad debts and asset
write-downs. We have enhanced how we manage risk, by introducing
improved governance and risk management models.
Bridging the gap between loans and deposits is an important part of our
plan. Corporate Banking Division deposits increased by £6 billion year-
on-year from their January 2009 levels, and a significant focus for us is to
self-fund the loans on our books.