One of the few, very few, consolations of a credit crunch and recession is that there is now a class of professionals almost as despised as journalists. Bankers, it has to be admitted, are not the flavour of the month.
So as I and my equally reviled fellows – double-glazing salesman, used car dealers, arms traders – warmly embrace bankers on the seat of shame, may I warmly implore you to do the same.
Their move to the naughty boys’ seats at the back of the class is understandable. Nationally the banking industry has done much to make itself as unlovable.
Moreover their reading of the public mood has been stunningly inept – many have gone to ground, keeping communications with the real world to a minimum. And on the big bonuses that many senior executives and City stars still insist of awarding themselves – Barclays and The Co-op are honourable exceptions – the perception is that they are not only irremediably greedy, but that they still Just Don’t Get It.
But there are many good reasons to bring regional bankers bank into the fold. Firstly, it would be a huge mistake to equate the actions and motives of a Midlands-based department head or branch manager with that of a hedge fund trader in Canary Wharf. They are equally victims of the problems that beset us. If they didn’t spot the signs on how the Midlands’ economy would fare, the neither did you or I.
I do not remember anyone, bankers or otherwise, confiding 18 months ago “you know, all this steady growth, can’t last”. Simply because we all believed it would. Any director now cursing their bank for agreeing to stupendously high levels of gearing should first kick themselves, hard and repeatedly, for asking for the cash. If you must kick a man when he’s down, start with yourself.
Secondly, and again I’m talking on a regional rather than a national level, banking has been a force for good. Over the past couple of decades its expertise has enabled business in the Midlands to grow, develop and mature beyond recognition. This may not be a popular line but when, like bankers, you’re at the bottom of the social scale, courting favourability is not a major issue.
Finally, and perhaps this is the most important, is that while banks are a major part of the problem, they are a fundamental part of the solution. They are still, and will remain, the prime source of finance for business.
Despite all the offers of state and local finance initiatives, the relationship between banker and director will be fundamental to the long-term success of any enterprise. That means talking, and talking regularly, with the banks, understanding rather the constraints they work within – imposed internally, by the markets, regulators, governments – and jointly finding a way forward.
The relationship between banks and business will have to change: even when the worst of this crisis is over both sides will have to get used to hearing the word “no” a lot more often.
Go on, put your prejudices aside and reacquaint yourself with the people who stood by you for so long. Don’t just hug a hoodie, embrace a bankie.
Kurt Jacobs, editor
Also in: March 2009
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Taking a leaf
Why do some businesses rise above their rivals? As Insider publishes this year’s Growth 100, we look at the secrets of pushing upwards.
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Dance of the dragon
China remains a complex and often mystifying country in which to do business, so what should Midlands corporates expect there this year? Ian Halstead finds out.