Business finance: whatever happened to your Bank Manager?

That’s the question asked by Andy Page, Head of Commercial Finance at Seico Group. 

Ask anyone to name a famous bank manager – not that there are many to choose from, admittedly – and they will almost certainly come up with the name of George (Captain) Mainwaring, who is long-departed and, of course, did not even exist in the real world in the first place. 

A TV character whose many comedic faults became the stuff of British folklore, Mainwaring was the quintessential bank manager who knew all his customers inside out – which ones were good for the money and also had the authority to look after them accordingly. 

Most business people reading this are likely to have enjoyed that type of relationship with their bank manager at some stage, but probably not for a while. It’s more likely that their accounts are now dealt with by a telephony unit and that their former manager has left the bank. 

So, what can the customer do if they need to discuss their plans? 

Well, I’m one of the ‘missing’ bank managers, with 25 customer-facing years on the clock, and I now work in the Commercial Department at Seico, who are a long-standing and respected mortgage brokerage. 

I’m doing pretty much the same job today as I did in the bank – I have the same discussions now with business people as I did when I worked on the High Street. 

One major difference is that I can discuss the whole of the market as opposed to just one bank’s products. 

Businesses still need to have these discussions and because at Seico we look at the entire market. I have the flexibility to be creative and to get the best deal for each customer. As an example, I recently saved a healthcare business around £200k over the course of a five-year loan, compared to the ‘best’ offer they were able to arrange themselves. 

I’m always ready to talk to people about their future plans – whether they’re being looked after by their bank or not. If someone has a good business idea it needs to be put in front of the right lender and it’s my job to do that. If this sounds like you and you’d like to talk about it, please don’t be shy about getting in touch.  

01273 778888
andrew@seicogroup.com