Santander, one of Europe's largest banks, is targeting British businesses facing post-Brexit trading difficulties in a bid to gain an edge in the competitive corporate lending sector, directly competing with traditional rivals such as HSBC.
To achieve this, Santander's UK arm is expanding its services to businesses trading internationally through its Navigator platform, which seeks to connect clients with export ambitions to potential partners, customers, and suppliers across its global network. Since its soft-launch in 2022, Navigator has helped around 1,000 businesses to grow internationally, and Santander aims to triple the number of active users on the platform by the end of 2023.
The bank has signed up actor Brian Cox for a multi-million pound advertising campaign to encourage customers to make new connections to propel businesses into new markets. Corporate and commercial loans currently account for just under 10% of Santander UK's overall loan book.
