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Business Awards: Bank delighted to back awards once again
Barclays Commercial Bank in West Anglia is once again delighted to support The Evening Telegraph Business Awards with its category of Medium Business of the Year.
Barclays Commercial Bank in West Anglia is once again delighted to support The Evening Telegraph Business Awards with its category of Medium Business of the Year."We know from previous years that the quality of entrants will be high and judging will be tough, but it will all be worth it to celebrate the successes of businesses that are finding ways to achieve their strategic goals in the current recession" said, head of commercial bank West Anglia Simon McCarthy.
"At Barclays Commercial Bank, we recently launched a new initiative to assist business clients in battling recession. The Turning the Corner programme combines practical guidance, workshops, industry discussions and networking events to offer business owners and managers, specific skills and knowledge that will assist them in meeting the unique challenges, and identifying potential opportunities, the current recession presents.
"We view Turning the Corner as a natural step towards improving the way the bank supports businesses, particularly when combined with increased business lending and support of Government initiatives such as the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG)."
Barclays is acutely aware of its responsibilities in the current environment and it remains committed to creating and maintaining a platform for its clients to succeed. Of course, this means continuing to lend, which the bank is well placed to do as it remains well capitalised with a strong balance sheet.
But it also means adding value by providing practical guidance and information, and connecting businesses with like-minded peers so they can share learning on how to adapt their businesses to the specific challenges of operating in a recession.
By offering the bank's clients specific financial solutions and highlighting options for building more efficient operations, it believes their businesses will be better positioned when the economy recovers.
Mr McCarthy said: "We are continuing to host Turning the Corner events around the UK focused on connecting businesses and educating clients on best practice throughout the economic downturn.
These regional advisory events include workshops and practical seminars from a range of business experts including renowned business mentor Rene Carayol, as well as the opportunity to participate in trade fairs in order to extend networks and develop new business leads. We are also rolling out sector-specific roundtable events, enabling manage-ment teams to find out what other businesses from their industry are currently doing to adapt, survive and, in some cases, thrive."
The programme also includes a website with recession-specific content to help aid decision-making in areas such as human resources, supply chain management, foreign exchange and other finance and management disciplines.
The website includes third party guidance from a range of industry experts as well as Barclays Commercial Banks perspective on market conditions and develop-ments. Visit www.barclays commercial.com/turning thecorner
Critically, this initiative will also involve the sharing of skills from dedicated turnaround professionals. Barclays Commercial Bank Business Support teams work with the management of struggling organisations to turn their companies around by offering specialist financial and operational advice and creating lending arrangements more suited to the long-term needs of the company.
Indicative of how effective this support is, 76 per cent of the companies that worked with Barclays Business Support on a turnaround strategy were successful in returning to health in 2008.
“As an organisation, we often hear the assertion that banks simply are not lending to viable businesses,” added Mr McCarthy.
“It is important to reiterate that Barclays Commercial Bank’s financial results, announced in February, revealed strong lending growth, with business lending increasing 14 per cent year on year.”
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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