Start-ups and sole traders in the Hull area are being backed by a newly-appointed bank Business Manager to drive an upturn in the area’s economic fortunes.

Richard Harrison, who covers the Hull area for Santander Business Banking, said his first few weeks in the job have highlighted moves by more people set up their own businesses, whether they are out of work or employed by someone else.

He added that the trend is bringing benefits to the city centre and also having a positive knock-on effect by helping to tackle deprivation in other areas of the city.

Richard, 35, was appointed to the role at the beginning of August as Santander increased its number of Business Managers across the country from 60 to 310. A native of Scarborough who more recently worked for Santander in Grimsby, Richard researched the Hull area before making his latest move.

He said: “I was surprised to find out that despite the attractive appearance of Hull City centre there are deprived areas that are in need of a lot of investment and that have high unemployment.

“But at the same time the fact that more people are progressing and setting up their own businesses provides a good foundation to turn things round.”

Richard operates from Santander’s three branches in Hull city centre and works with businesses with a turnover of up to £250,000 while also linking with the bank’s Hull-based Corporate Relationship Managers.

He says the increase in Business Managers is designed to provide more face-to-face contact for people looking to work for themselves.

“Our philosophy is to provide a service which is simple, personal and fair and I find that people are responding to that and welcome the fact that we have such a strong presence in the city centre where they can come and see us,” he said.

“From the customers I’ve seen it is clear that there are people who are setting up as sole traders because they are out of work or because they have been working for someone else and they want more control over what they do.

“In particular Hull is a thriving area for tradesmen and the mood among business generally is increasingly positive.”

Kathryn Shillito, HullBID City Centre Manager, said: “It is very encouraging to hear Richard’s comments and to see Santander investing in the city centre.

“We believe the connection between the city centre retail sector and professional services is extremely important because they support each other so much. One of HullBID’s key aims is to attract more people into the city centre and the success of that is demonstrated by the fact that Santander have such a strong presence here.”

(Photographer: Karl Andre)