South Central: Lloyds Bank appoints new senior managers and an area director
Mark Handscomb, new SME area director for South Central England, has strengthened the support for Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking customers in the region with the appointment of nine senior managers.
Previously area director of Hampshire and Dorset for five years, Handscomb is now supporting SMEs in Dorset, Wiltshire and Hampshire.
His nine newly-appointed senior managers, including one that specialises in agricultural clients, will look after a portfolio of the region’s banking customers and manage teams of relationship managers.
Paul Hayward takes the new senior manager position after having previously held a similar role in West Sussex for nine years. He is now responsible for supporting SMEs in the Isle of Wight, Southampton and the South Downs following his appointment in the South Central region.
Hayward joined Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking more than 34 years ago and will lead a team of nine relationship managers, looking after businesses with turnovers up to £25 million. He has worked in a variety of roles which include 20 years’ experience in senior customer relationship management, looking after SMEs of all turnovers and industries.
Paul Skilton has also become a senior manager in South Central England following a number of years in relationship management leading successful SME relationship management teams in the Hampshire and Dorset area. He has gained a wide and varied experience of commercial banking since joining Lloyds Bank 34 years ago.
He will now lead a team of 11 relationship managers who continue to support SMEs with turnovers up to £25m across a range of business sectors within the Southampton, Salisbury and Winchester areas.
Handscomb commented: “It is important to have a strong frontline relationship team to fulfil the aims of ambitious firms in South Central England.
“At Lloyds Bank we are doing all that we can to help our region and Britain prosper. Local lending decisions are an important part of the service that we offer and to support this we have pledged to double the size of loans that our most senior managers can approve to £1m, as part of our SME charter.
“Following consistent growth in demand from farmers for lending and specialist banking guidance over the past five years the Bank has strengthened its specialist agriculture team by more than 20%, including key appointments in South Central England.
“Through the knowledge and experience of our senior managers, we can offer tailored facilities to suit firms’ ambitions, including trade finance to support manufacturers and exporters and Government-backed initiatives, such as the Funding for Lending Scheme where we continue to offer a 1% discount on the life of a loan.”
