Lloyds Banking Group has announced an £18bn commitment for businesses in the UK. The bank says that the fund will support entrepreneurs looking to start a new business, micro-businesses seeking to scale up and small businesses considering trading internationally for the first time. It will also support established mid-sized businesses and large, multinational corporations seeking further growth.

This lending commitment for 2020 follows on from the bank’s pledge of the same amount in 2019. Despite the continuing challenging economic environment, the bank says it is not lessening its backing for UK businesses and is on hand to support their growth aspirations.

During 2019, the bank also assisted its customers’ transition to becoming more sustainable. The bank is on course to meet its ambitions to support existing and new customers with energy efficiency improvements for a further two and a half million square feet of commercial real estate as well as delivering renewable energy projects capable of powering 5 million homes by 2020. To support customers on their sustainability journey, over 450 relationship managers have undertaken training on climate change and sustainability-related risks and opportunities in collaboration with Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership.

Clients of the bank that benefitted from the partnership in 2019 include London-based confectionery business Jealous Sweets, which was supported with a working capital facility. The finance allowed the business to expand further into Europe and Asia-Pacific, while fulfilling new large orders from major UK retailers including ASDA and Holland and Barrett. It has since doubled its turnover and plans to hit £4 million in sales this year.

Lerwick Port Authority was also supported, to develop a new white fish market at Lerwick Harbour thanks to a £3 million funding package. The new fish market will allow Shetland’s principal seaport to expand the capacity for landings and meet increasing demand from the island’s commercial fishing industry. The market, featuring the latest green technology and sustainable building materials, came from the bank’s Clean Growth Finance Initiative, which offers discounted funding to help businesses to lower their carbon emissions.