History of Banking in the UK

Question: Write about the application of strategic positioning models to banking industry in United Kingdom.

The banking industry of United Kingdom plays major role in the economy. Banking industry is evolving over the time in order to provide superior service to eh customers along with strengthening the economy of the nation. It assists in managing cash flows of business organizations, personal banking service, generating employment opportunities and revenue for the government. The major focus is to analyze the environment of the banking industry of United Kingdom. A brief overview of the banking system of United Kingdom is presented in this below. With the aid of PEST analysis, the political, economic, social and technological factors are discussed which have immense influence on the banking sector of United Kingdom. The last part contains Porter’s Five Forces Analysis in context of the banking industry of United Kingdom.

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Banking industry plays a significant role in a nation’s economy. It assists in generating job opportunities, revenue for organizations; provide services to individuals, organizations and government. In United Kingdom banking service was started since seventeenth century. Bank of England was established in 1696. Gradually, banks in United Kingdom started to offer more services such as overdraft facilities, security investment, clearing facility etc. In eighteenth century, due to industrial revolution in England and increased international trade, an increase in number of banks was observed in London. Two significant merchant banks Rothschild and Barings were established in London in eighteenth century. In nineteenth century, joint stock bank was emerged and the government had taken an initiative to introduce Bank Charter Act which aims to control and regulate the banking industry. The accounting system and record keeping procedure had gone through continuous improvement. In 19^th century the big five banks of United Kingdom were National Provincial, Barclays, Midland, Lloyds and Westminster. In this ear, computer was introduced in banking industry and many services such as credit card, ATM were launched. Presently, all the banks in United Kingdom are providing similar superior services. Apart from bank some financial services such as insurance, investment funds, stock brokerage plays a major role in the economy of United Kingdom (Figueira, Nellis and Parker, 2007). In 2011, 9.4% of the total economic output of United Kingdom was contributed by the financial service sector. But, recently, it has started to fall and reached 5.4% of the Gross Value Added (GVA) of United Kingdom (Chalabi, 2014).

PESTLE analysis of banking and financial sector of United Kingdom scrutinizes the major factors that affect and influence the organizations operating in the industry. PESTLE analysis is the acronym for political, economic, social and technological analysis. PESTLE analysis is a strategic tool that assists the management as well as policy makers to analyze the driving forces of that industry and how respective companies will be affected by the those as well as the entire industry (David, 2005).

Role of Banking in the UK Economy

In order to analyze the political factors of banking industry, stability of government, financial policies, regulatory frameworks etc need to be reviewed. According to many experts and senior bankers, political interference is a major risk faced by the banking sector of United Kingdom. In 2010, John Hitchins, one of the banking leaders of United Kingdom told that a lot of regulation and political interference in the banking industry has leaded to financial crisis (Treanor, 2010) (Bennett and Kottasz, 2012). In World Economic Forum, many complaints were received regarding excessive political interference in the banking and financial sector. According to the Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister, banks are responsible for contributing in the economy of the nation and must be completely controlled by the government (News.bbc.co.uk, 2014). Banks operating in United Kingdom needs to design their strategies complying with the regulatory framework  (PwC, 2014).

The retail banking and financial services industry of United Kingdom is facing major issues as control is within the hand of few organizations. The banking industry of United Kingdom can be compared with the Oligopoly market. It has been observed that the customers are becoming inclined towards the online banking services. Hence the idea that tells branches are responsible for representing the market dominance is becoming increasingly redundant. The dominance of the large banks has reached a situation where those banks are considered to be too big to encounter failure. The big banks get support from the wholesale retailers who offer cheap rates as they are confident about the fact that these bank will not fail. Royal bank of Scotland and Lloyds has experienced difficulty in selling their branches due to technological complication as well as huge expenses. Lloyds have spent one billion GBP for establishing TSB. Barclay Bank is also facing challenges as Moody’s credit rating has declined (ROBBINS, 2009).

The banking industry focuses upon meeting the existing needs of the society. Banks need to maintain its reputation in order to achieve sustainable growth. Apart from providing financial services to the customers, banking and financial industry is also responsible for creating job opportunities. 7% of the employments of United Kingdom belongs to the banking and financial sector (Prospects.ac.uk, 2014). Though London is dominating the global finance, some other cities such as Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, and Edinburg have also flourished. Investments are generated extensively form the international clients.

Advancement of technology has largely influenced the banking and finance industry of United Kingdom. Internet banking has significantly changed the scenario of banking industry. The banking organizations which are overlooking the technological up gradation will be naturally eliminated from the market. Technological innovations must be adopted by the giant market players. Professor Clayton Christensen has coined it as “Disruptive innovation” (Wall, 2014).

In order to create safe and strong banks government of UK had introduced Banking Act and Bank of England Act. It has also taken action such as introduction of Banking Reform Act. Banking reform act focuses upon the change in terms of culture as well as structure. Moreover, in order to increase competition among various financial service firms. Government has introduced as new service “7-day current account switching service”. This service will help the customers in switching their current accounts. In 2010, an Independent Commission on Banking was established. The responsibility of the commission is to review and make suggestions for the banking industry. The commission emphasizes on banking industry reform that will help in increasing competition as well as maintaining financial stability. Financial Service Act which was introduced in 2013 focuses on making changes so that financial services banks are regulated (Gov.uk, 2013).

PEST Analysis of Banking Industry in the UK

Environmental factor refers to the competitive banking industry of United Kingdom. The biggest banks of United Kingdom are Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Lloyd and SCB. In terms of profit and net asset HSBC was ranked top among all the banks in 2013 (www.kpmg.com, 2013). The banking industry has been facing a lot of challenges due after the financial crisis. The environment of United Kingdom banking sector is extensively competitive and dominated by few banks.

Porter’s five forces is an efficient tool for assessing the micro environment of a specific industry in order to determine the strategic position of a business organization belonging to that industry. According to Porter, there are five forces which need to be analyzed for assessing the attractiveness of the industry (Jeffs, 2008). The five forces for banking industry of United Kingdom are discussed below:

The banking and financial industry of United Kingdom is extremely competitive (Wilson, 2014). The leading banks of United Kingdom are Barclays (1,593 outlets), HSBC (1,187 branches), Lloyds TSB (1,800 branches) and NatWest (1,415 branches) (Hiscott, 2013). Banks are offering several services to its customers and it requires high capital investment. The banking industry of United Kingdom is extensively concentrated and competitive. In order to have sustainable growth in the banking industry of United Kingdom huge infrastructure, capital investment is required. The leading banks of United Kingdom have high market value as well as asset. The market value and Assets can of the leading banks of United Kingdom are given in the following table:

The banking industry is extensively capital intensive i.e. requires huge capital investment in order to set up the infrastructure. The existing market players have already huge capital and asset which provide them extra advantage. It is very difficult for the new entrants to set up a bank and compete with the exiting market rivals. In United Kingdom, the banking sector is concentrated and reflects oligopoly model. Hence, for the new entrepreneur it is very difficult to venture in the banking industry of United Kingdom. The probability of establishment of new bank is very poor. So it can be concluded that threat of new entrants is very low in the UK banking sector (Sadler, 2003).

Bargaining power of customers is quite high as the market is extremely competitive. The customers have an option to switch to the lower cost (El-Manstrly et al., 2011). This can be observed in the services such a loan, mortgage, credit card facilities etc. The natural tendency of the customer is to compare the cost with other banks and switch to the lower cost. Due to this trend, the banks are providing various schemes in order to meet the cost expectations of the customers. Hence, it can be stated that the bargaining power of the customers in banking industry of United Kingdom is potentially high (Ahmad, 2005).

Bargaining power of supplier is not a big issue for the banking industry of United Kingdom. Especially, the big banks get a lot of support from the wholesale lenders as they are confident about the potential of the big banks. Hence, it can be concluded that the bargaining power of suppliers are moderate (Researchandmarkets.com, 2014).

Political Factors

The threat of substitute is moderate and increasing day by day. The non-banking financial institutions offer similar service. Hence, the threat of substitute product is moderate to high.

Future of Banking & Conclusion

The future of UK banking industry is very difficult to state. It can be said that both the investment and retail banking sector of United Kingdom is facing transformational challenges. The regulatory reform proposed by government is extensive and its impact is also uncertain. After the financial crisis, banks are emphasizing on repairing its balance sheets, trying to strengthen their capital, enhancing the liquidity position and above all regaining trust and confidence. The recovery of banking sector is extensively dependent upon the policy and reform actions taken by the government. Success of banking sector depends on suitable risk taking. Banks need to assess their targeted economic growth along with their potential of taking risk. It is observed that the world economy is developing gradually. Hence, an effective regulatory framework, reform actions will help the United Kingdom banking industry to achieve sustainable growth in future (www.kpmg.com, 2013).

References

Ahmad, R. (2005). A conceptualisation of a customer-bank bond in the context of the twenty-first century UK retail banking industry. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 23(4), pp.317–333.

Bennett, R. and Kottasz, R. (2012). Public attitudes towards the UK banking industry following the global financial crisis. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 30(2), pp.128–147.

Chalabi, M. (2014). UK banks: how powerful are they?.

David, F. (2005). Strategic management. 1st ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall.

El-Manstrly, D., Paton, R., Veloutsou, C. and Moutinho, L. (2011). An empirical investigation of the relative effect of trust and switching costs on service loyalty in the UK retail banking industry. Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 16(2), pp.101–110.

Figueira, C., Nellis, J. and Parker, D. (2007). Challenges facing the polish banking industry: A comparative study with UK banks. Managing Global Transitions, 5(1), pp.25–44.

Gov.uk, (2013). Creating stronger and safer banks – Policy – GOV.UK.

Hiscott, G. (2013). Number of bank branches at lowest level for over 60 years.

Jeffs, C. (2008). Strategic management. 1st ed. Los Angeles: SAGE.

Moshirian, F. and Wu, Q. (2009). Banking industry volatility and banking crises. Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, 19(2), pp.351–370.

News.bbc.co.uk, (2014). BBC NEWS | UK | Brown: Banks should be ‘servants’.

Prospects.ac.uk, (2014). Overview of the finance sector in the UK | Prospects.ac.uk.

PwC, (2014). What now for the UK banking industry? Implementing the Independent Commission on Banking recommendations.

Researchandmarkets.com, (2014). UK Retail Banking Sector: Industry Profile – Research and Markets.

Researchandmarkets.com, (2014). UK Retail Banking Sector: Industry Profile – Research and Markets.

ROBBINS, M. (2009). Barclays hit by credit rating blow.

Sadler, P. (2003). Strategic management. 1st ed. Sterling, VA: Kogan Page.

Thompson, A. and Strickland, A. (2003). Strategic management. 1st ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Treanor, J. (2010). Political prying biggest risk facing banks, say bankers.

Wall, M. (2014). Start-ups challenge big banks’ technology.

Wilson, H. (2014). Is competition in retail banking a problem? – Telegraph.

www.kpmg.com, (2013). Road to Recovery? What the Future holds fr UK Banks.