Results show SME’s still struggling to access finance

Despite the Bank of England pumping £200 billion into the economy, many UK SME’s are still struggling to access finance.

Figures out by the British Chambers of Commerce show that in a survey of 400 firms, 33% reported accessing finance had become more difficult in the last 3 months. Only 3% of firms asked reported an increase in accessibility and 64% reported no change. Despite the difficulty in accessing finance, SME’s reported lack of customer demand is the biggest hurdle facing them in the next 12 months. Only 18% of firms said lack of credit was their biggest problem, compared with almost two-thirds who cited lack of customer demand.

“Our latest survey results show that the biggest issue facing British businesses is still demand for products and services,” said BCC director general David Frost. “It is clear that the huge sums that have been injected into the financial system by quantitative easing are still not reaching small and medium-sized businesses in anything like the scale required for business to invest for future success.”

He is calling for the Pre-Budget Report, due on 9th December, to include some measures to ease pressure on struggling SME’s. The FSB are already calling for the planned increase in National Insurance in 2011 to be scrapped and want the VAT rise to be delayed until the British economy is in a better position to survive.

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