The UK’s biggest banks have pulled back from SME lending in recent years
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Looking for finance for your small business? Don’t assume your local bank is the place to find it. UK government ministers summoned bank bosses to Westminster this week for a crisis meeting on credit availability for small and medium-sized enterprises. They’re concerned that high street banks’ reluctance to lend to SMEs is holding many businesses back – and therefore dampening the UK’s economic growth prospects.
They’ve got a point. The Government points to data suggesting that banks in the UK are saying yes to fewer than 50% of loan applications from SMEs – just seven years ago, the figure was close to 70%. Bank lending to SMEs did increase 13% last year according to UK Finance, the trade body for the banking sector, but nevertheless remained down on pre-pandemic…
