There is a big difference between saying you\u2019re committed to a market and actually turning up.<\/p>\n
Most of us have seen businesses announce ambitious plans for a particular region, only for attention to move somewhere else a few weeks later. The announcement is the easy part, but building lasting relationships takes time and, from what I\u2019ve seen, that\u2019s particularly true in Scotland.<\/p>\n
Commercial lending isn\u2019t any different. It can be tempting to think that if your lending policy covers Scotland, you\u2019ve instantly got a Scottish proposition. I don\u2019t think that\u2019s how the market really sees it. From speaking to brokers and customers alike, it\u2019s quite clear they can tell the difference between a lender that\u2019s available in Scotland and one that\u2019s genuinely investing there.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why, for us, building our presence isn\u2019t simply about writing more business north of the border. We\u2019ve been clear that we want to double our Scottish loan book over the coming years, but I actually think it\u2019s important to explain what sits behind that ambition. It isn\u2019t about setting a target and assuming the lending will follow, it\u2019s about making sure we\u2019re building the capability, expertise and relationships that allow us to grow in the right way.<\/p>\n
Our recent appointment of Harper Macleod as our primary Scottish legal adviser reflects that way of thinking. If we\u2019re serious about doubling our lending in Scotland, we have to make those investments before the additional lending arrives, not afterwards. For me, that\u2019s simply common sense. You can\u2019t expect brokers and borrowers to have faith in your commitment if you haven\u2019t first invested in the expertise that supports it.<\/p>\n
What has been interesting is what happened after we made this announcement. We saw brokers talking publicly about the opportunities they felt were being overlooked in Scotland and what lenders needed to do differently. Quite naturally, that opened conversations with people we hadn\u2019t worked with before because they could see we\u2019d already started investing, rather than simply talking about our ambitions.<\/p>\n
Awards 2026<\/p>\n
I actually think that\u2019s an important distinction. Relationships still sit at the heart of commercial lending, and they\u2019re built over time. Brokers want to know you\u2019re going to understand their market, respond consistently and still be there after the first deal has completed. None of that comes from issuing a press release, it comes from spending time with people and building confidence through experience.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s also why I don\u2019t think Scotland should simply be viewed as England with a different legal system. The legal framework is clearly different and that\u2019s important, but it goes beyond that. The sectors, the businesses and the conversations you have with borrowers often look different too. Hotels, leisure businesses and commercial real estate all bring their own characteristics, and your approach needs to reflect that rather than assuming one national strategy will naturally fit every market.<\/p>\n
What we\u2019re seeing is that brokers aren\u2019t looking for lenders that claim to do everything. They\u2019re looking for lenders that know where they can genuinely add value and are honest about it. In fairness, I think that\u2019s a healthier place for the market because it leads to better conversations much earlier in the process, before everyone has invested time pursuing a deal that was never quite the right fit.<\/p>\n
That also means being realistic about growth. Expanding into a market isn\u2019t simply about trying to generate as many enquiries as possible. We\u2019ve found it\u2019s much more valuable to build the right relationships with brokers who understand what we\u2019re trying to achieve and where our approach genuinely suits their clients. Those conversations tend to produce better outcomes for everyone involved because they\u2019re built on understanding rather than volume.<\/p>\n
For me, that\u2019s what building a presence in Scotland really looks like. It means spending time there, meeting brokers, visiting customers and understanding local markets rather than trying to manage everything remotely. You\u2019ll learn something every time you\u2019re there and, in my experience, those insights are impossible to pick up from behind a desk.<\/p>\n
If we become a lender that\u2019s known for understanding Scotland rather than simply lending there, then doubling the loan book becomes an outcome of doing the right things, not the objective in itself.<\/p>\n
Conor McDermott is director of SME lending at LHV Bank<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There is a big difference between saying you\u2019re committed to a market and actually turning up. Most of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1121837,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5009],"tags":[748,4884,305509,712,8447,16,15],"class_list":["post-1121836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scotland","tag-britain","tag-great-britain","tag-lhv-bank","tag-scotland","tag-smes","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1121836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1121836"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1121836\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1121837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1121836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1121836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1121836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}