0:13
Hello, I am Rupert Hogre, the managing
0:15
editor of City AM and I'm here with Andy
0:17
Gray from Nat West at the wonderful
0:19
business leader growth 500 awards. Andy,
0:22
nice to meet you. Good to see you. So,
0:24
why is this uh events like this so
0:26
important to the UK growth suit? So I
0:28
think it's hugely important that we
0:29
demonstrate and celebrate all of the
0:32
great entrepreneurial activity and
0:34
growth that goes on within the UK.
0:36
What's great is you got winners here
0:38
from all different sectors in all
0:40
different regions of the UK and as we
0:42
know you the growth of the UK is driven
0:46
heavily by businesses like this. Yeah.
0:48
Uh and Net West is a lead sponsor of the
0:52
and and small business. How important is
0:53
that to N West and that growth area?
0:56
That's hugely booked to us. You we've
0:58
got we're the biggest of the of the high
1:00
street banks in terms of banking for
1:02
business. We bang more startups than any
1:04
other high street bank. Um and we've got
1:07
12 entrepreneurial accelerators which we
1:10
use across the UK uh to help support
1:12
entrepreneurs learn, grow and succeed.
1:16
And then in my business which is the
1:17
mid-market business, uh we know that you
1:20
know the mid-market businesses are
1:22
responsible for a huge amount of the
1:24
economic growth of the UK. a large
1:26
amount of the employment and if we can
1:28
increase their effectiveness by even 1%
1:31
we think that's worth about 35 billion
1:33
pounds a year. Yeah. GMV. Do you see
1:35
that as one of the biggest opportunities
1:36
now in the UK? Absolutely. Yeah. But we
1:39
did a we did a big bit of work last year
1:41
um uh and published a report called the
1:43
Brit Middle on the midm market and what
1:46
that revealed was a few of the well
1:48
first of all the huge value these
1:50
businesses create but also some of the
1:53
challenges they face uh in terms of yeah
1:55
they're not really recognized as a
1:56
segment you a lot goes on for startup
1:59
and you know big big companies like
2:01
indeed west we have our own voice and
2:04
capabilities but in this middle which
2:06
drives productivity uh and drives
2:08
prosperity and employment. Um there's no
2:12
real voice for them. So we've been
2:13
working pretty hard. We've set up a
2:15
mid-market growth council uh which our
2:18
chief executive Paul Fu chairs um which
2:21
is uh represents a a load of business
2:24
organizations and indeed mid-market
2:26
businesses. Um we're focused on four key
2:29
things. Um which is giving those
2:31
businesses a a voice and a focus in
2:34
terms of the data so we can measure it.
2:37
We track how well they're doing um in
2:40
terms of helping them with with
2:42
regulation um access to stills uh as
2:46
well and then also which aligns very
2:48
much with government strategy how we
2:50
play regionality and really support
2:53
businesses in the regions and devolved
2:56
nations of the United Kingdom to succeed
2:58
and grow. But what what do you think are
3:00
the biggest challenges right now for a
3:02
for small businesses they have to
3:03
overcome? So, so I think regulation,
3:06
access to skills, um, and I think that
3:09
inevitably as we speak today, there's a
3:12
huge amount of macroeconomic and indeed
3:14
geopolitical uncertainty. And for small
3:16
businesses particularly, that that
3:19
creates a distraction and an uncertainty
3:21
that can knock them off track, reduce
3:23
their confidence to invest, and
3:25
therefore dampen their growth and
3:26
success. On the other side of the
3:28
equation, then, what are you most
3:30
excited about in the small business
3:32
world? So I'm really excited about the
3:35
kind of energy that the UK
3:38
entrepreneurial community still brings.
3:40
You know, the resilience and the
3:41
determination to succeed and thrive and
3:44
grow. And I think even in difficult
3:46
times that is so reassuring when I go to
3:49
events like this, when I meet many of
3:51
our customers, that enthusiasm,
3:53
determination, resilience counts for an
3:56
awful lot. Well, on that wonderful note
3:58
then, thank you very much. Thank you
3:59
very much for the best.
