Lloyds Bank bolsters support for construction sector with senior appointment
Lloyds Bank has strengthened its support for the construction sector with the appointment of a new sector head to its commercial banking division.
Eleanor Cox has been appointed SME Head of Construction in London, where she will lead the team’s support for construction businesses, focusing on those with a revenue between £3m-£25m. In the new role Eleanor will lead a team of Relationship Directors and Managers to provide construction businesses with advice and tailored products that will help firms more effectively achieve their growth ambitions.
Over the last year, Lloyds Bank’s construction team has supported a range of customers across the UK.
One such business is construction hire business JA Rattigan & Son, a client of Lloyds Relationship Director Brendon Shanahan’s, which Lloyds Bank provided with £1.2m of asset finance funding to invest in vacuum excavators. These are then supplied into the utilities industry and larger construction firms. With the support of an asset finance facility, the business can supply the necessary equipment for these projects while avoiding disruption to its own cashflow.
Eleanor Cox, SME Head of Construction in London at Lloyds Bank, said: “The construction industry continues to face significant challenges, including rising inflation, supply chain disruption, and skills shortages, and signs are that these will persist in 2023.
“Managing these issues while capitalising on opportunities for growth will be a balancing act for the sector. Tools such as asset finance, which allow companies to unlock capital tied up in equipment can be useful here, and free up working capital for investment back into the business. Also, with the super deduction tax in place until 31st March 2023, now is a good time for firms to invest in new equipment so that they can claim 130% capital allowances on qualifying plant and machinery investments.
“Our team have a combined construction sector expertise of more than 20 years and we’ll be using this expertise to be by the side of construction firms.”
