Part-nationalised Lloyds Banking Group has pledged to offer support to 300,000 new start-up businesses over the next three years.
The Press Association reports that Lloyds said its plans would help 'viable' businesses gain access to credit as the UK recovers from recession and give "clearer and fairer" prices under a small business charter.
The bank has announced plans to raise £21 billion to avoid a taxpayer-backed insurance scheme which would have seen the public stake rise to 62per cent.
Under the charter the bank said it would run a programme of 200 seminars to advise small firms, meet 'reasonable' requests for finance and help viable businesses through temporary difficulties.
The bank's commercial managing director John Maltby said optimism among businesses was the "foundation" of any economic upturn and that "We hope to give businesses across the country the confidence they need to grow and lead the UK out of recession."
