The Royal Bank of Scotland believes that a diverse supply chain is key to ensuring its success. The bank's head of procurement, Jonathan Sutherland, noted that small and medium enterprise participation is critical to the bank's long term success as they make up 32% of the bank's customer base. Mr. Sutherland stated that supporting small and medium enterprises through the bank's supply chain is a strategic imperative, not an act of philanthropy, because the bank's fortunes are closely tied to the success of these companies.