Analysis(1) of industry data by Cambridge & Counties Bank, which launched earlier this year offering loans of between £50,000 and £1 million to SMEs in the Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire areas that have a typical annual turnover of less than £25 million and assets valued under this, reveals that there are some 7,340 businesses in the three counties each employing 20 staff or more. Furthermore, it found that there are 2,935 companies each employing 50 people or more.
Gary Wilkinson, Chief Executive, Cambridge & Counties Bank said: "Our analysis shows there are some 85,000 businesses in Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire - a number of which are both sizeable and successful. However, the regions' prosperity will, to a great extent, depend on the ability of existing businesses to grow and employ more people, and in turn this will be reliant on their ability to access capital. It has been well documented that many successful businesses are finding it difficult to secure financing, and it is our aim to help address this problem, especially in the Cambridgeshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire areas."
In terms of where the most amount of local businesses with 20 or more staff are based, 945 are in Northampton (36.5% in Northamptonshire), 770 are based in Cambridge (31% in Cambridgeshire) and 610 in Huntingdonshire (25% in Cambridgeshire).
Cambridge & Counties Bank has a unique structure being jointly owned by Cambridgeshire Local Government Pension Fund and Trinity Hall, a College of the University of Cambridge. They each own 50% of the bank, which has a strong management team led by chief executive Gary Wilkinson who has held a number of senior roles in the banking and building society sectors.
The bank places a significant focus on developing a partnership type relationship with clients through being easy to do business with and by focusing on plain English and transparency.
Cambridge & Counties Bank uses a local personalised relationship approach consisting of business development managers focusing primarily on its heartland regions of Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Leicestershire, coupled with a national broker coverage model. This will allow balanced growth across geographies, market sectors and property types, avoiding inappropriate concentration risk.
(1) Based on analysis of ONS data.
For further information please contact:
Citigate Dewe Rogerson (for Cambridge & Counties Bank)
Phil Anderson (0207 282 1031) / Patrick Evans (0207 282 2913)