Company vitae

Isn't it the bank with that galloping black stallion?

Spot on. Lloyds TSB is not only our top bank but it is also a major player in the insurance market and is a leading home mortgage lender through its Cheltenham & Gloucester business. The bank has 16m customers and the largest branch network with around 2,300 neighbourhood offices.

Wait a minute! Didn't I read about massive job cuts?

Staff turnover from its total workforce of more than 80,000, each year accounts for 10,000 people leaving the bank, so natural wastage should take care of the restructuring that it announced in February. Moreover, the job cuts will partly be offset by 2,000 new customer-facing posts that it is creating.

When was the first deposit taken?

Lloyds traces its pedigree back to 1765 in Birmingham, trading as Taylors & Lloyds. The TSB goes back to 1810 when the first trustees savings bank was established in Ruthwell, Dumfriesshire.

Does all its money come from usury?

Look, that's so unfair, banks' base rates and mortgage interest rates are at their lowest for decades. Its retail banking and mortgages last year chipped in around £1.58bn, the insurance and investment operations earned £1.6bn and its dealings in the wholesale money markets pulled in £937m. And it posted pre-tax profits of £3.5bn.

Blimey, the stock must be worth a flutter?

Check with your broker before you pile in. However, after its AGM earlier this week, shares were changing hands at 750p, valuing the bank at £41.7bn.

Any tips to impress the corporate recruiting gang?

Lloyds TSB were proud sponsors of the last Six Nations Championship. This is the fifth year it was involved in the sponsorship of the international rugby event.

You should know that the bank runs the largest community investment programme in the UK, valued at around £36m in 2001. This focuses on education, social regeneration and charitable support for local communities.

It may be prudent to gloss over the details of the blocking of its merger with Abbey National, last July by Patricia Hewitt, the Trade and Industry Secretary, on fears over the elimination of a possible competitor in the business banking market.

And feign ignorance of the demise of its wealth management offshoot Create that was only set up last year.

Top billing for equal opportunities?

The bank runs a Centre for Diversity which provides education and development on the diversity issues facing Lloyds TSB. It includes career skills training for women and people from ethnic minorities to ensure that the bank's workforce and management population reflect the gender and ethnic complexion of its customer base.

Does it bank on training its staff?

Training strategy is based on providing more access to career development to all employees at a time and place that suits their needs, through greater use of technology.

The bank offers graduate training programmes that include general management training (MT) and a specialist international banking programme.

In July 1999, it launched the University for Lloyds TSB to address the learning and development needs of the group. It is one of the largest corporate universities in Europe, covering a range of subjects from customer service, sales and lending to people management, leadership and strategic planning.

Do the executives laugh all the way to the bank?

The boardroom lads gave themselves basic salaries ranging from £355,000 to £600,000.

Any idea of the rewards for the wage slaves?

Basic salary for those on its graduate training scheme varies depending on the business areas. In 2002, salaries were in the range of £19,000 to £22,500 plus an additional allowance for people who work in the London currently worth £3,450.

And its Save As You Earn (SAYE) group sharesave scheme offers employees the opportunity to become shareholders in the group at a discounted price.

Who fields job applications?

To register interest on its next round of graduate recruitment drives visit www.lloydstsbgraduate.co.uk.

For senior positions, write to: Norman Mitchinson, group HR director, PO Box 112, Canon Way, Bristol BS99 7LB.