News

Handelsbanken

Handelsbanken marks 7 years in Guildford by more than doubling its staff; appointing a new corporate account manager as No 10 in the team and by  increasing loans by over 30% year on year.

Guildford, Surrey. 4th May 2011.  Handelsbanken is celebrating its seventh year in Guildford by more than doubling its staff from 4 to 10 over the period.

The most recent appointment is Doug Hughes who joins as corporate account manager after 25 years in banking.

Since 2005 the Guildford branch of the Swedish bank has grown its customer base from zero to over 370 and business has continued to grow in the past year when it:

• Increased its overall lending by over 30%

• Grew its mortgage book by over 300%

• Almost tripled its deposits from personal and business customers

• Boosted its staff by 40%

“I am very excited at joining Handelsbanken in Guildford,” says Doug Hughes, “and what I love about the bank is its focus on personal service and supporting local businesses. We don’t have any call centres and the decentralised model allows us to react quickly to clients’ needs.

“That’s because we enjoy a great degree of autonomy with 95% of decisions about credit being made here at the branch on College Road, Guildford.

“What also appealed to me was that the approach is far more personal and less bureaucratic than in the High Street bank where I worked for 25 years. At Handelsbanken we look at everyone individually. Unlike at other banks, we’re not guided by what the policy is about a certain sector every month.  

“We’re looking at individual clients, listen to what they’re saying and then see what we can offer and how we can work with them. We are aiming to develop long-term sustainable relationships with an emphasis on service and certainty. Maybe that’s why three-quarters of our business is from referrals. We’re also determined to protect the fact that we have the lowest loan losses in the market.”

Neil Truman, branch manager at Handelsbanken Guildford, says: “We’re delighted that Doug has joined the team as he is very experienced and very local, so he really knows the businesses here.

“As to our results, service and good old-fashioned, traditional banking is what we are passionate about, and it clearly works, given the sharp growth in our lending and mortgage books. The same ethos applies to all the Handelsbanken branches in the UK (nearly 100 now).

“Maybe that explains why for the second year running the independent EPSI UK banking survey has ranked us top in terms of customer satisfaction and loyalty for both business and personal banking.”

Handelsbanken Guildford is at www.handelsbanken.co.uk/guildford and Tel. (01483) 57 98 98.

All media enquiries, please, to PNPR on (01483) 82 44 58.