Would recommend Lloyds. I have just opened an acc with them and i am really impressed abd i also got a free start up book by Sarah Williams.

I tried Natwest who were really useless and i have been waiting nearly 4weeks to hear if my account has been opened. Now I saw the adviser at Lloyds Mon eve and on tue my account was opened. I am just waiting for my things to come through

^ I am also with Lloyds and so far they have been great! But I need to change the company name on the books, I wonder how that will go down...

Thank you both for your replies. Since speaking to Lloyds a couple of days it feels as if they really want my custom

Regards

Lorraine

IMO all banks are rather poor, there is nothing to chose between the “big 4” in my opinion, it is all down to the individuals you get to deal with. Get a good relationship manager, and they can make a real difference.

I use Abbey largely as its permanently free for the level of transactions I do, and I don’t have to step into a branch. I don’t see any good reason for not using one of the small operations unless you plan to build a multinational. For most SME’s there is no real difference between any of them.

Do make sure you ask how much you get charged after the honeymoon period (all the banks offer 18 months free)....a small client with Barclays was being charged 50p to electronically transfer money between his business and personal Barclays bank account. Oddly enough he closed the account when I pointed out what was going on.....

hope this helps, do search for otehr bank threads, there are tons of them on here!

Regards,

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James Smith
Chartered Accountant
www.jamesesmith.co.uk

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Your indispensable guide to Small Business Bookkeeping, Self-Assessment & VAT

LLoyds are ok and give Free banking for 18 months, however if you have made the mistake of saying that you were a sole trader before you went limited, you only get 6 months free banking, even though a limited company is a new entity!  Be prepared.
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www.pebbletech.co.uk">href="http://www.pebbletech.co.uk">www.pebbletech.co.uk
www.pebblesecurity.co.uk
www.auctioncollective.com
www.businessforums.biz

We use Lloyds TSB and have found them impressive - far better than HSBC that we were previously with; if payments are made into and from the account electronically, we do not pay any bank charges. So we are now ditching writing cheques and paying everyone electronically, and the same with accepting payments. Most of our customers and suppliers seem to be fine with this.
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Clare Barton
PASS - The Virtual Assistant Service
www.virtualpass.co.uk

Hi,

I have applied to Abbey for my business account; they seem to have the best deal going as I'm not really after a business relationship manager or anything like that at the moment. Banking is free for life (within limits), and I have a personal account with them too which I'm happy with.

I applied by post, and it has taken absolutely weeks to process. The other day I had to sign a letter and reply it, just to say I had got the letter, which had no obvious point whatsoever. I suppose the process would be quicker if you dealt with them ‘in branch’.

If you’re not in any particular rush to get your account up and running you should defiantly give Abbey a try.

Kind Regards,
Adam.

I'm with Natwest and have recently emerged from my freebanking period. They have not offered any thing in the way of advice or real support but the account has done what it is supposed to do ie hold my money and allow me to transfer it (online) as I wish.

I'm seriously thinking of joining the Federation of Small Business as for a small fee (c£100 as a sole trader) one of the perks is free banking for life with co-op (a nice ethical choice) and this is something I can see will easily pay for itself in a very short space of time.

Does anyone have any views on co-op banking for businesses? is anyone else on the forum a Federation member?

Nikki
www.nowletsgetstarted.co.uk

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Now Let's Get Started
Helping sole traders, start-ups and SMEs do business
www.nowletsgetstarted.co.uk