Government Report on SME Access to Finance lacks focus on Awareness
Commenting on the Government’s British Business Bank’s Small Business Finance Markets Report launched today, Katrin Herrling, founder and CEO of Funding Xchange, the independent online platform that links businesses looking to borrow with appropriate lenders, voiced disappointment that the report made only passing comment to the lack of awareness of small businesses on the wide variety of sources of finance available to them.
Agreeing with BBC Business Editor, Simon Jack, who chaired the launch of the Report, Katrin Herrling said: "There have been 50 new bank licenses agreed in the past 10 years, 16 of which have been applied for in just the last two years. Yet the vast number of small businesses believe that their only route to a loan is through their mainstream bank. The report notes that there is a general lack of awareness by businesses of the range of finance providers and it is disappointing that there is no particular recommendation aimed at educating businesses on the options open to them. Funding Xchange is focused on doing exactly this, but we do need the Government to drive the agenda more."