John Bugeja has been appointed head of trade sales at Lloyds.

He is responsible for the sale of trade services, trade finance and supply chain finance to global corporates, mid-market and SME clients in the UK, Europe and North America and for financial institutions trade sales.

He started his new position in January, having previously spent 30 years in the transaction banking nidustry, working with HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and until August 2012, RBS.

Dave Phillips, director of trade, says: “John’s appointment is an important step in building out our strategic trade finance proposition at a time when many of our small and medium-sized customers are looking to build and strengthen their international trade. We have strong core trade capability at Lloyds Bank and are keen to use that to help these UK businesses succeed overseas. We are delighted to have John on board.”