Businesses warn Cable that new bank must lend to a broad range of firms
Andy Willox, the federation’s Scottish policy convenor, said the Business Secretary’s proposals – which were outlined at the Liberal Democrats’ party conference in Brighton – could help to break the “duopoly” in the banking market north of the Border, which is dominated by Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland.
Willox said: “The new state-backed institution must provide real competition to the high street banks – especially in Scotland where only two players currently dominate the marketplace. It cannot be designed to support a handful of firms that fall into an arbitrary category and must operate across the length and breadth of the UK.”
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Hide AdFull details of the business bank – which will use £1 billion of public funding to draw in a further £9bn from the private sector – will be given in Chancellor George Osborne’s autumn statement in December.
Liz Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: “The creation of the business bank is a key intervention from government to support our economic recovery and has the potential, if done properly, to be the single most-important economic boost that government could provide.”
But Paul Aitken, chief executive of small business lender Borro, warned: “So many initiatives have been promised that have failed to meet the objectives set – the UK government will need to put its money where its mouth is.”