9 June 2005
For immediate release
The National Bank is finalist in Small Business Support Awards
The National Bank is delighted to be among the finalists in the inaugural Vero Excellence in Business Support Awards
that were announced last night. These awards recognise and set apart those entities that have a demonstrable
understanding of business owners' needs and help support small business growth in New Zealand.
The award entries were independently evaluated by the New Zealand Business Excellence Foundation and are designed to
recognise excellence in the quality of services offered to small businesses of New Zealand. Vero, the Ministry of
Economic Development, and Enterprise and Trade New Zealand sponsor the awards.
Bruce Lambert, General Manager, Business Banking for The National Bank said today “Getting to the finals is recognition
of the leadership role that The National Bank has played in its services to small businesses in New Zealand. We have
worked very hard to develop a suite of products and services that meet the needs of businesses beyond core banking
products. Our aim is to help our customers succeed by helping them to build better businesses, and making business
easier.”
“Part of our service delivery is making sure every customer has their own locally-based Business Banking Manager. In
addition, The National Bank has developed a Business Resource Centre – with an ‘Ask the Expert’ facility, more than 160
Solution Guides about issues that small businesses face; planning tools (software and paper-based) and seminar
programmes.”
The National Bank is a finalist in the corporate section along with Microsoft, CallPlus and Slingshot. The winners of
each category will be announced at an awards dinner on 21 July.
ENDS