Most small businesses receive funding boost

The overwhelming majority of small businesses that applied for finance in the first six months of 2018 were successful, statistics show.

UK Finance commissioned market research firm BDRC to carry out its SME Finance Monitor Q2 2018 and found 85% of small businesses in the UK secured finance in the first half of the year.

Additionally, around six in 10 SMEs reported that they had a high level of trust in their main bank.

Stephen Pegge, director of commercial finance at UK Finance, said the figures show SMEs “should be confident” when approaching their bank to seek finance.

Despite high numbers of successful applications, however, 73% of small businesses said they would rather grow their business slowly than borrow to grow quickly.

Businesses that did expect to seek finance in the future took a cautious attitude, with 48% saying they were reluctant to borrow in the current climate.

Overall, SME owners said the main barriers to running their business were legislation and regulation (18%), political uncertainty (16%) and the current economic climate (15%).

Pegge added:

“Overall appetite for finance among SMEs remains subdued, with many reluctant to borrow.

“Legislation and red tape, political uncertainty and the current economic climate are all increasingly cited as issues holding SMEs back, while only one in 20 see access to finance as a major barrier.”

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