When a frustrated small businessman wrote to Sir Mervyn King recently to complain about the difficulty of raising a £10,000 loan to buy a van, he got a surprising reply. The Governor of the Bank of England sympathised about the “maddening” credit decisions of our big high street banks and urged the businessman to try a new lender instead, specifically suggesting Handelsbanken.
Handelsbanken? It was a remarkable endorsement for the Swedish bank, which is little-known in Britain but is building a base of business customer fans disenchanted with the mainstream.
While other lenders are cutting staff, shrinking their loan books and reducing risk, Handelsbanken is heading in the other direction, opening new branches in Britain at the rate of one a fortnight. It has 152.
via The Swedish bank that brought back the bank manager | The Times.
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