1. Our year-on-year net growth in advances to SMEs was
4% at the end of March 2015, while across the industry
there was a net reduction of 2%.
In our Helping Britain Prosper Plan we have pledged
to grow our SME lending by at least £1 billion net every
year until the end of 2017. In the 12 months to March
2015 we provided £1.1 billion net lending to SMEs.
In 2014 we set a target to lend an additional £4 billion
to manufacturing businesses over the four years
to December 2017. At the end of Q1 2015 we had
provided £1.30bn against this pledge.
We have published all our lending data for SMEs,
mortgages and personal lending by postcode sectors
across the UK. It can be found on our website through
our postcode lending calculator.
IN NUMBERS
3,300+
JOBS PROTECTED
THROUGH OUR BUSINESS
SUPPORT UNIT IN Q1 2015.
4%
YEAR-ON-YEAR NET
GROWTH IN ADVANCES
TO SMEs.
£1.1bn
NET LENDING TO SMEs
IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS.
8 out of 10
LOAN AND OVERDRAFT
REQUESTS APPROVED.
23,000+
START-UPS SUPPORTED
IN Q1 2015.
OUR FINANCIAL
SUPPORT
FOR SMEs
ØUnlike many other
banks, local decision-
making is an important part
of the service that we offer
our customers. Our most
senior managers can renew
loans up to £1 million, and
approve new lending of up to
£500,000 to existing customers
at their own discretion.
ØWe are still approving
eight out of ten loan and
overdraft requests – a rate which
is independently verified and in
line with our long term average.
ØWe offer 18 months
free day-to-day
banking for start-ups.
ØOur charges are
transparent. Through our
Monthly PricePlans, customers
can pay a simple, fixed monthly
fee to cover their day-to-
day banking transactions.
ØOur private equity division,
Lloyds Development
Capital (LDC), plays a crucial
role in supporting SMEs. In
the 12 months ending March
2015, LDC invested over £300
million in 16 companies. >>
SUPPORT FOR GOVERNMENT
SCHEMES
ØWe are continuing to offer competitively priced
lending to SMEs in all sectors for the life of their
loans through the Funding for Lending Scheme. During
2014, we grew net lending to SME’s by £1.2 billion, more
than any other bank participating in the Funding for
Lending Scheme.
ØWe are taking part in a range of other Government
schemes designed to help businesses get access to
finance, including the Enterprise Finance Guarantee
(EFG) Scheme. We have supported over 6,300 EFG
loans, worth more than £520 million – around 23% of all
loans granted through the scheme so far.
SUPPORTING
BRITISH
BUSINESSES
May 2015

2. ØWe are committed to
providing alternative
sources of finance for our
customers, including asset
based lending, trade finance
and community finance. We
have a partnership with Greater
London Enterprise through
which we are providing funding
of £5 million, to lend to micro
businesses across the Capital.
Since the launch of this London
Loan Fund in April 2014, 77
micro businesses have so far
accessed £1.2m, creating or
protecting over 170 jobs.
ØWe work closely with the
‘Angels in the City’
investment community, having
joined forces with City of
London and London Business
Angels.
ØWe are supporting SME
house builders with a £50
million equity fund which is
designed to help these firms
access capital for new projects,
and ultimately to help tackle
the issue of housing supply and
affordability.
THE
ECONOMIC
ENVIRONMENT
ØOur Business in Britain
report (January 2015)
shows that business
confidence fell from its record
high in July. However, business
expectations for total sales,
orders and profits in the next
six months remain positive
and above their long-term
average.
ØOur SME customers still
have substantial headroom
on overdrafts. Less than 55% of
borrowing facilities are being
drawn upon – lower than in
2009.
OUR BROADER
SUPPORT
FOR SMEs
ØThrough our 2015 SME
Charter we have made a
series of pledges to help
support our customers.
These include:
• A commitment to help 1,000
start-ups become £1 million
turnover businesses within
three years, contributing at
least £1 billion to the British
economy.
• A contribution of up to
£5 million for an industry fund
to improve digital services
and comparison websites
to help small businesses
switch banks and improve the
competitiveness of the SME
banking market.
• A pledge to help boost
SME exports by growing
our provision of trade
finance by 25%.
• A new action planning tool
to help 10,000 businesses
become more resilient, by
2020, by understanding and
acting upon the benefits of
running their business in a
lasting and responsible way.
We have a network of
trained Relationship
Managers and work with
local partners to provide
guidance and support on
managing the risks and
ØIn partnership with the
University of Warwick,
the Warwick Manufacturing
Group, the Engineering
Employers’ Federation and the
Manufacturing Technologies
Association we have trained
more than 280 managers across
the UK to help enhance the
support we offer manufacturing
businesses.
ØWe are supporting our
business customers
through our network of over
2,000 customer facing staff, as
well as through our internet
site which received more than
two million views a month
throughout 2014.
ØLloyds Banking Group has
committed £50 million to
Big Society Capital, to help
create a sustainable social
investment market in the UK.
ØWe are investing £1 billion
across the Group to deliver
improved digital services, giving
customers more ways to bank
with us. This includes making
improvements to our Mobile
Banking App and launching a
new online banking channel to
support SME customers as they
grow their business.
ØThe Lloyds Bank Business
Digital Index 2015 showed
that over a million SMEs lack
basic digital skills. We are
working with Go ON UK, the
Digital Skills charity to provide
a range of online toolkits and
workshops to help improve
businesses’ digital skills.
taking the opportunities
presented by a changing
business environment.
ØThrough the Business
Finance Taskforce, we are
delivering 17 measures to help
businesses by improving
customer relationships,
ensuring better access to
finance and promoting a better
understanding of the industry.
ØThrough our own Appeals
Pledge, which goes beyond
industry agreed guidelines, we
have committed to look at 90%
of customer appeals within 15
working days, and make a
goodwill payment wherever a
decision
is overturned in a customer’s
favour.
ØWe have been leading the
Business Finance Taskforce
mentoring initiative and we now
have more than 400 mentors
across the UK, more than any
other bank.
ØOur Business Support Unit
(BSU) is continuing to help
businesses in financial difficulties.
In the three months to March
2015 it helped more than 460
businesses onto a sounder
financial footing and protected
3,300 jobs. Most of the
businesses helped were SMEs.
ØLloyds Banking Group
continues its support
of the UK manufacturing sector.
We have committed
£1 million-a-year for the
Lloyds Bank Advanced
Manufacturing Training
Centre at the Manufacturing
Technology Centre, Coventry,
to address the sector’s skills
gap in the UK. The centre is
due to open later this year.
THE COST OF
BORROWING
ØThe absolute cost of
borrowing for Lloyds
Bank customers has more
than halved since 2007.
During March 2015, 87% of
Lloyds Banking Group’s new
variable rate term lending
to SMEs was at an interest
rate margin of 4% or less
over base rate.
ØWe have promised that
arrangement fees on
loans and overdrafts will
not be greater than 1.5%
of a customer’s facilities
(subject to minimum fees
for small facilities).
ØWe only seek security
where appropriate,
on a case by case basis,
reflecting risk and type
of facility.