6 strengths to seek out in your banking partner

Peer under the bonnet of any high-performing and ambitious corporate and you’ll identify a host of contributing factors.

One of the most critical components, I would argue, is a proactive bank who in uncertain times can give you ideas and solutions to give you the confidence to kick on and grow. So don’t let your banking partner hold back your ambitions, speak to a bank who thinks big like you.

Here are what I see as the most important features of a commercial bank – the characteristics we’ve been honing at HSBC UK as we strive to expand our corporate offering.

As you navigate economic and geopolitical challenges, you need experts who are on top of the shifting trends and nuances of your market.

That’s why we’ve been investing heavily to strengthen our sector teams. This year we’ve boosted our firepower in areas such as business services and healthcare.

We also have specialist units in the retail, tech, education, agri-foods, franchise, professional services and manufacturing industries.

Sector expertise is essential. But you also need bankers who breathe the same air as your business: people who know your territory inside-out.

Our regional teams, located in 13 bases across the UK, are the familiar, accessible faces of your bank – experts in your local market who, importantly, are on hand to help and guide you.

HSBC’s global footprint makes us the clear choice for corporates with an international outlook. We support companies across more than 50 countries and territories, facilitating nearly £800 billion in trade every year.

From introducing potential partners in new markets to supporting your subsidiaries around the world, we offer intensive support for cross-border growth.

While that global expertise is justly prized by multinationals, we work equally intensively with corporates whose ambitions are targeted on the home front.

We are a bank who can help you make the first step overseas but are equally well placed to support domestic focussed businesses to grow. In fact, some might be surprised to know that 47% of our corporate customers are not currently engaged in international trade.

The widest possible range of banking solutions is a fundamental requirement of a banking partner. HSBC UK certainly delivers on that front. For example, few commercial banks come with a Private Bank, including services to support entrepreneurs plan for a sale, exit or succession.

Besides that sheer range, real value is found in a bank’s ability to look beyond off-the-shelf products, and tailor solutions to solve your challenges.

For bus leasing company Rock Road, for instance, we devised a funding platform to aggregate multiple deals – enabling the business to reach a scale big enough to attract institutional investors.

Recognising that many corporates are now in advanced states of their sustainability journeys, we have finance solutions which support and reward sustainability performance. Our partnership with EcoVadis offers access to reduced-rate sustainability improvement loans (SILs) as businesses’ ESG rating improves in line with targets.

That can be combined with other facilities to achieve sustainable growth, as in the SILs we recently extended to malt manufacturer Muntons – among the first to be agreed within an asset-based lending framework.

Today we finance a number of industries that significantly contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. We have a strategy to help our customers to reduce their emissions and to reduce our own. For more information visit www.hsbc.com/sustainability

Word-of-mouth acclaim is the most reliable guarantee of quality. By that yardstick, I’m pleased to say that perceptions of HSBC UK outstrip those of our main competitors.

Savanta surveys position us as the top-rated business bank in terms of trust, value, innovation, and offering straightforward products and services.

In Euromoney’s 2025 awards, we were ranked as the UK’s best bank for corporates. The citation mentioned our digital innovations – such as the efficient Smart Transact portal and rapid-reconciliation invoice discounting – alongside improvements such as 50% faster underwriting for complex financing.

Financial advice and solutions are so integral to business growth that settling for a less-than-optimal partner risks squandering opportunity. Several corporates are hearing that message: over the past year, we’ve increased our market share in this space by 2%.

Have a conversation with us and let’s discuss how HSBC UK could support your growth strategy.