New Lloyds area director promises support for SMEs

Lloyds TSB Commercial Banking, the division of Lloyds Banking Group which supports SMEs, has appointed Paul Smith as the new area director for the North West.

Paul said: “Over the coming months I’ll be focused on working with our teams in the area to support local SMEs. It’s a great time to be working with companies across the North West, as our latest Purchasing Managers’ Index research showed that business output growth across the region’s private sector rebounded in January, following a weak end to 2012, and employment levels remained stable. This demonstrates that firms in this region are in a great place to grow this year. “As part of our commitment to supporting SMEs, Lloyds Banking Group lent £13.2bn to UK SMEs in 2012 alone and as part of our 2013 SME Charter we have pledged to help an additional 100,000 new start ups in 2013.”