Lloyds details steps to help boost business growth

Lloyds Banking Group has unveiled various pledges to boost firms across the UK as part of its 2017 Business Charter, launched today.

Lloyds is pledging to help more start-ups and first-time exporters. Picture: Jane Barlow

The commitments include helping 5,000 first-time exporters, 100,000 start-ups to launch, and a further 1,000 firms scale up and hit £1 million turnover in three years.

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It comes as the boss of TSB, which was carved out of Lloyds, hit out at plans to spare Royal Bank of Scotland from selling off its Williams & Glyn network.

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Paul Pester added that competition concerns will not be addressed by a £750m state fund for challenger banks.

He said: “Clearly we’ve been successful in creating TSB out of Lloyds and creating a new challenger bank. If that’s not to happen with Williams & Glyn through the creation of an independent bank, what’s important is that we still get the same outcome, which is more competition.”

The Treasury said RBS “must deliver on its remaining state-aid commitments”.

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