Best of all, things are looking up for small businesses. Last week some encouraging numbers emerged from the taskforce set up to monitor the situation. The latest “SME Finance Monitor” makes for promising reading if you’re running a small business. For the first time since the financial crisis the majority of small firms are expected to grow over the next year.
Cash flow looks good for SMEs too, with only 10% reporting problems like bounced cheques. And for the first time on record, less than a third say the wider economy is holding them back.
But not everyone seems willing to support that optimism. Despite the prevailing mood, the proportion of SMEs with access to mainstream finance remains completely flat. And last week the Bank of England announced a drastic fall in the amount lent to these businesses – down £0.9 billion in a month.
Luckily, one in five SMEs (21%) now use alternative finance – a rapid increase from 15% last quarter. Alongside brokers, it seems that only the newest and most nimble lenders really understand what smaller businesses need. We’re lending record amounts to small firms, and the bridging industry as a whole has stepped up its support, now providing SME finance at a pace of over £1 million every day.
It’s true that economic barriers are receding. But successful small businesses simply can’t wait for months on end while lenders fail to make a decision. Not when deals happen in a matter of days. These small companies deserve more support – and alternative finance is not only leading the way, it’s dominating the picture.
