Access To Finance Remains A Serious Problem For UK Firms

Fri, 20 Nov 2009

Businesses across the UK are still struggling to access finance, according to new research by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

In its latest monthly business survey, a third of the 400 companies polled said they had found it more difficult to obtain funding over the last three months, compared with a fifth that reported worsening credit conditions in June.

In addition, the number of firms reporting an improved access to business finance fell, dropping from 6 per cent in June, to just 3 per cent in the latest BCC survey, despite the Bank of England pumping £200bn into the economy to boost money supply and stimulate lending .

However, a majority (64 per cent) of the firms questioned said their biggest barrier to growth over the next 12 months was a lack of customer demand.

BCC director-general David Frost said: "Our latest survey results show that the biggest issue facing British businesses is still demand for products and services. This means that any economic recovery is still fragile."

"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 in future success."

He added that the Pre-Budget report on December 9 must include measures that encourage companies to invest and improve confidence.
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