Clydesdale Bank helps lay foundations for school’s development

18/10/2011

A leading St Albans school is building for the future with the financial backing of Clydesdale bank.

With a development loan in place, work is well underway on a new multi-million pound Performing Arts Centre and Art & Technology block at St Albans High School for Girls.

The construction is due for completion by Easter 2012, and will be followed by demolition of the existing, outdated, Art building.

“The new building is designed to be as multi-purpose as possible,” said Fraser Campbell, Bursar at the school. “The new hall will be used for drama, music, teaching and exams. It will be a tremendous addition to the facilities of the school.”

Crucial to the development was an affordable financial package and the school met with a number of different banks.

“We were conscious of Clydesdale Bank’s presence in the area and its interest in working with the charitable and education sectors,” said the Bursar. “We spoke to several banks and Clydesdale was able to offer a deal that met all of the Governors’ expectations.

“The Governors were impressed with the professionalism of the Clydesdale team that presented to them. They showed they had a real understanding of the school’s needs and had a full and detailed relationship plan to ensure that they could meet those needs.”

The financial package for the school was put together by Aidan Glasscoe, Business Partner at the St Albans Financial Solutions Centre (FSC) of Clydesdale Bank, as part of the bank’s Investing for Growth programme which has helped it meet its target of £10 billion of new lending for business and personal customers in two years to October 2011, of which £1 billion was earmarked for the South East.

“Investing for Growth offers benefits such as loan repayment holidays, interest-only repayments and extended loan and credit terms and is designed to help businesses take advantage of quality growth opportunities by providing investment finance, increasing cash flow and easing debt commitments,” said Mark Laughlan, Managing Partner at the St Albans FSC.

“At Clydesdale Bank we have autonomy to make lending decisions so we can be far more flexible in our approach to individual businesses. With our close relationship and understanding of the school’s requirements, we were able agree and draw down the finance quickly and without fuss.

“We would be delighted to talk to any business with plans to grow and which is looking for financial support for those plans.”