A TEAM of relationship managers at NatWest are certainly keen to be ahead of the game when it comes to helping small and medium-size businesses to grow.

Get Ahead for Business is an initiative that Paul Marston is very keen to promote.

Well known in Basingstoke business circles, Paul was for several years director of commercial banking at NatWest, in Basingstoke, and now he is managing director of commercial banking for the South West.

Paul said: “Get Ahead for Business is an extension of Helpful Banking – and NatWest is determined to be known as the helpful bank.”

The scheme aims to help entrepreneurs achieve their ambitions, using the support and knowledge of the bank’s relationship managers.

“What we are saying is if you want to get ahead in business, our relationship managers have a head for business, as we understand what it’s like to run a business,” explained Paul.

Here in Basingstoke, NatWest, which is part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, has recently brought the area’s relationship managers together at the bank’s Top of The Town branch, in London Street.

They report directly to Paul’s successor, who is director of commercial banking, overseeing offices in Basingstoke and Farnborough.

But Paul’s presence and influence can still be felt, even though he is now responsible for a patch stretching from Land’s End to Portsmouth, up to High Wycombe, and across into Wales.

Paul is still at heart a Basingstoke man, living with his family, in Hatch Warren.

“I have a particular interest in this patch because it’s my home town,” said Paul, who between 2002 and 2006 spearheaded The Keeping Deals in Basingstoke campaign.

“During the week, I get around my patch and on a Friday, I do tend to use the office here in Basingstoke.”