AN IRISH bank is creating 20 jobs in Medway and pumping £60 million into local businesses over the next five years. Bank of Ireland Business Finance has underlined Medway’s attractions for financial services by choosing Medway City Estate for one of its new regional offices.

It has recently opened at Sunderland Quay. Ten staff, including regional manager Tim Clucas, from Rainham, have already been recruited, and a further 10 will be needed over the next few months. Ground Force star Charlie Dimmock launched the new venture at its Cheltenham headquarters.

Bank of Ireland hired the management team of RoyScot Trust, the former Royal Bank of Scotland asset finance business that found itself without a home after the bank’s merger with NatWest. Sales director John Evans, who in the early 1990s worked in the old RoyScot offices in Pudding Lane, Maidstone, said the Bank of Ireland wanted to expand beyond its shores.

The Dublin-based bank, founded in 1783, has announced plans to loan £1 billion to small and medium sized businesses for equipment over the next five years. Around £100m will be invested in south east enterprises, with more than half - up to £60m - expected to come to Kent and Medway

Mr Evans said: “We have 10 people in Medway and that will double over the next 12 months. We are talking about investing over £100m in the local economy and I would think that probably over 50 - 60 per cent will be in Kent and Medway.” The bank was serious about its Medway operation. “Our brief is to create a business of substance,” he said. “We are very much here for the long-term.”

The bank is investing £15m in its new regional structure and hopes to become a top five player in the British asset finance market. Some of the Medway staff, including Mr Clucas, were previously with Lloyds TSB. Most of them live in the county.

Mr Clucas said: ”If there is one area in the country where capital investment is expanding rapidly, it’s Kent. The Medway area has been through many ups and downs but it’s always proved one of the bedrocks of the region. The ease of communication, in terms of road infrastructure, is excellent.”

Band of Ireland Business Finance will advance sums ranging from £15,000 to £1.5m for anything from cars and commercial vehicles to printing presses, production lines and information technology.