National Bank Small B'ness Support Award Finalist

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

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