Set for Action on Climate Change

Mark Crimmins, Ulster Bank Head of Northern Ireland, tells Ambition about the bank’s commitment to addressing climate change, its role in economic recovery, and its parent bank NatWest’s strong commitment to Northern Ireland.

With the pandemic and Brexit, businesses in Northern Ireland haven’t had to look far for challenges over the last 12 months. In the second quarter of 2020, we saw the sharpest contraction in economic output in a century, and by the end of the year, we were staring into another prolonged lockdown. It would have been easy for business owners to despair.

But whilst the experiences of firms in different sectors vary greatly, overall the Northern Ireland economy is now not in as bad a position as had perhaps been expected. We are now able to be a little more positive about the outlook than conditions six or nine months ago would have allowed. Indeed, the latest Ulster Bank NI PMI points to increasing signs of stabilisation in the local private sector and increasing optimism for the year ahead, albeit at lower levels than elsewhere in the UK.

There are a number of reasons for this more stable picture. One is the way businesses have been able to adapt and continue their operations. Another is confidence that comes from the growing number of people being vaccinated and the gradual reopening of parts of the economy. Then there is of course the significant level of support that has been provided.

Ulster Bank, for its part, supported over 10,000 business customers in Northern Ireland with more than £400m in COVID-related lending,

Mark Crimmins, Ulster Bank Head of Northern Ireland.

including through government schemes such as BBLS and CBILS. This has helped ensure the liquidity needed by companies and the economy until the upturn happens. And whilst there are no doubt significant challenges ahead – including the legacy of debt that many companies will carry – we can now look more clearly to the recovery and to the future beyond the pandemic.

In the meantime, investment has been happening. Ulster Bank was very pleased to support Learning Pool, the North West headquartered provider of e-learning technology, to recently acquire a US-based business. We have also just provided support to Totalmobile, a provider of software for mobile workforces which has acquired an English rival.

These companies operate in sectors that were, overall, largely unaffected by the pandemic. But we are also starting to see an encouraging increase in the level of investment intent and lending enquiries across other sectors including agriculture, food and drink, healthcare and manufacturing. And as the year progresses, we expect to see the recovery widening.

With the backing of our parent bank NatWest, we are very strongly focused on supporting that – not only through our lending activities but also through the expertise and reach of our group. We are also strongly focused on assisting businesses to address the other major challenge of climate change.

Understandably, dealing with climate change hasn’t been at the top of most companies’ agendas over the last year. But that will have to change. And it’s an area in which Ulster Bank intends to play a leading role.

Tackling climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time and as a leading bank, we have a significant responsibility, and the ability, to encourage, enable and lead the way to transition to a net zero carbon economy.

NatWest Group has made strong commitments in this area which are now embedded in the Group’s Purpose. This not only includes the bank reducing its own carbon footprint across its estates and operations but also looking at what we are funding, and developing new products and propositions for those businesses transitioning towards a greener future.

One such example is our partnership with Octopus Energy, a leading sustainable energy supplier, which helps us support customers to move their fleets towards electric vehicles.

Further training of our people is another area of focus so that we can help customers make choices and investments to reduce their impact on the environment into the future.

As we look to the future of the economy beyond the pandemic, it is also right that we talk about the future of banking. Businesses and consumers now demand first class digital, always-on experiences, and we are embracing that change. As part of NatWest Group, we are able to access significant investments in new technologies and harness them for the benefit of our customers here in Northern Ireland. In the last year alone, we have launched Free Agent, a free accounting software package for Ulster Bank customers, and Tyl, a merchant terminal solution developed in-house. Further offerings are in the pipeline.

None of this means that we neglect our human interactions. While the physical footprint of banking will inevitably reduce, face-to-face interaction and presence in local communities is still hugely important to us. We aim to bring the best of NatWest to our customers and communities but delivered by local people on the ground.

All of that points to NatWest’s continued commitment to and confidence in Northern Ireland. That confidence is further demonstrated by a multi-million-pound investment in our headquarters in Belfast and in our contact centre of excellence.

In the new era of banking, customers and our other stakeholders also expect more than just the provision of core banking services. They expect that banks will help stimulate and sustain wider economic development and that is why we are now five years into running a national, award-winning entrepreneurship programme. This has supported many hundreds of businesses on their entrepreneurial journey and to secure investment. We have just launched the latest stage of the programme, with four specialist accelerators for entrepreneurial companies with a focus on climate, high growth, purposeled and fintech.

In line with NatWest’s position as the biggest supporter of UK enterprise, as well as our resolve to play a major part in supporting the economy to build back better, these four accelerators are aligned to our areas of strategic importance. They also support the springboard to recovery through the commitments made by our SME Taskforce.

As we look towards economic recovery and the future of the economy in Northern Ireland, the growth and success of these start-up and emerging businesses in areas such as fintech and climate change will play an increasingly important role; not just in attracting investment and creating jobs, but in helping create a better, more sustainable economy and society.

“Tackling climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time and as a leading bank, we have a significant responsibility, and the ability, to encourage, enable and lead the way to transition to a net zero carbon economy.”