The UK’s major high street banks are recruiting staff, both current and retired, to act as volunteer mentors to help small businesses thrive.
A new mentoring scheme has been set up by HSBC, RBS, Lloyds Banking Group, Santander and Barclays which aims to provide advice, knowledge and support to SMEs on a wide range of issues including finance, HR and marketing.
The government wants to have 35,000 mentors in place within the next 12 months but so far only 231 have received bank funded training.
The mentoring scheme will help businesses put over a better case when they apply for funding. The banks keep telling us that they have finance available and with the right guidance, SMEs should have more chance of being approved for a business loan.
The banks have come under fire recently for not reaching their Project Merlin lending targets. Stephen Pegg, a Lloyds Banking Group director, said the mentoring scheme will help small businesses access finance.
They will be able to put together better lending propositions once they receive financial input and advice, he claims.
However, one person who is not at all impressed by this mentoring scheme is Charlie Mullins, the founder of Pimlico Plumbers. He says SMEs should avoid taking advice from the banks like the plague, adding that the idea was ‘pure and simple hypocrisy’.
He’s even gone as far as inviting board members of the banks to visit his business so that he can give them lessons in providing good customer service and running a successful business.
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Image: Holding Hands by Pernell
