Lending to SMEs down £0.4bn in October

The net flow of loans to larger businesses was £1.0 billion in October, whilst loans to small and medium-sized enterprises were -£0.4 billion.

Norman Chambers, MD of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers, says:
 
"On the face of it, these figures paint a somewhat dismal picture for small businesses - but it's worth remembering they only reflect credit availability in one segment of the market.
 
"Loans to non-financial SMEs were down by £0.4billion in October on the previous month - despite lending to large businesses rocketing by a billion over the same timeframe.
 
"But while these stats are a good gauge of appetite for lending from the bigger banks, they don't tend to accurately reflect credit availability outside of the high street.
 
"In fact, our own brokers are continuing to see high levels of activity in the last quarter of the year as small businesses forge on with plans for growth - lenders are still willing to put up the capital to help them do this.
 
"The most important thing now is that policymakers continue to raise awareness about the various avenues of finance available to small business."