Accessing funding for small businesses

Far too many Small businesses are unable to access funding and are relying on unsustainable forms of finance, such as personal loans from families and friends, according to new research from one of our commercial funding partners.

Their findings revealed that fewer and fewer Small businesses are now applying for external funding – just 31% did so in the past 12 months, which suggests a greater variety of commercial funding options are needed to help support businesses.

With this in mind, Bibby Financial Services has launched Flexidraft, a new flexible funding facility for businesses with a turnover of up to £1m. Flexidraft will act as a viable alternative to the bank overdraft, providing firms with quick access to the cash they need.

Andrew Dixon, Bibby’s new product director, said: “Businesses’ reliance on the banks for finance has reached crisis point, as they are finding their ability to survive and grow severely restricted by a lack of funding.

“SMEs need more and faster support from traditional and alternative lenders. The government’s newly-launched Funding for Lending scheme will hopefully lead to an increase in bank lending to small businesses, but ultimately it still fails to address the issue that SMEs have become too reliant on the banks.

“New solutions, such as Flexidraft, will be vital to ease the pressure on the banks and traditional lending methods.”

If you want more information on this scheme or on other forms of commercial finance please contact us today.