The UK's finance industry's brand new sell-out trade Show at Olympia Central has gotten off to a flying start with a number of announcements, including RBS returning to the broker market.
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div>The UK’s finance industry’s brand new sell-out trade Show at Olympia Central has gotten off to a flying start with a number of announcements, including RBS returning to the broker market.
The inaugural Show is a resounding success and on a day that many lenders are launching new products, such as Dragonfly’s new three-year commercial term loan, more welcome news has now emerged for the industry.
In the opening seminar of the day, Barry Evans, Regional Director, South West & South Wales at RBS/NatWest, told visitors that the Bank was officially returning back to the broker marketplace tomorrow and has re-joined the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB).
Adam Tyler, CEO of the NACFB, told B&C: “We’ve worked with them for the past four to five months and it’s great news that they are back. Their re-emergence is great news for the SME market and they’ll be working with 50 NACFB broker members to begin with.”
Mark Posniak, Head of Sales & Marketing at Dragonfly Property Finance, said: “We’re flying. It’s a fantastic start and it has exceeded all of our expectations and its only midday. Once again, the people attending actually want to talk about deals and there is already business in the pipeline.”
Lord Mitchell, Labour’s Enterprise Adviser, made the opening address this morning about the recovery across UK financial markets, sustainable growth, and confidence. He also reaffirmed his stance on payday lenders: “I will not rest until payday loans are regulated, interest rates are capped, rollovers limited and banning adverts.”
A total of 88 exhibitors are present today and there’s a real buzz in the air in the conference hall. Visitors are still flooding in as the UK’s new sell-out. The vast array of exhibitors represents residential mortgages, commercial funding, secured loans and asset-based lending.
Confidence is clearly back into the sector as lenders are opening up back o the intermediary market.
In a separate announcement, the British Business Bank has made its first commitments, totalling £45 million, in its Investment Programme for small business lending.
Business Secretary Vince Cable said: "Today's investment, the first from the British Business Bank's Investment Programme, is an important step in helping starved businesses access the finance they desperately need. The £45 million of public money will not only leverage far more private sector funds, but it also sends a powerful message to small business that the British Business Bank is a reality and already making a difference.
"Small and medium-sized businesses across the country are being held back from growing because of a lack of credit, which the banks have been painfully slow to acknowledge. The British Business Bank will help build a fairer economy by addressing some of the deep-seated issues in the market, and will unlock up to £10 billion for small and medium-sized businesses over the next five years."
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