Nearly four in ten businesses across the UK are still finding it hard to access bank finance, according to new research.
Thirty eight per cent of firms surveyed by business finance provider Syscap said they had experienced more difficulties in securing a bank loan in the last year than in the previous twelve months.
Over a quarter of respondents (27 per cent) said access to finance had worsened over the last three months, while 30 per cent said they were being forced to put critical investments on hold due to difficulties in obtaining finance .
Just 9 per cent of businesses polled said they had seen an improvement in lending conditions over the past year.
Syscap chief executive Philip White said: "This is an alarming percentage of companies who are actually saying that access to bank loans is still worsening."
"Small businesses aren't just making this up. There is a real problem."
The companys survey also found that most companies who had been successful in securing a loan in the past year felt that the charges on their loans were too expensive.
Nearly three in four firms said (73 per cent) said lending margins on their loans were too high while 82 per cent aid the same about arrangement fees.




