SME lending hits 2-year high – bullish approach essential to Brexit survival

by | Jul 30, 2019

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So says Angus Dent, CEO of ArchOver, following the news that the Bank of England has announced that UK SME lending hit a two-year high in June, despite Brexit uncertainty continuing to escalate.


 

Dent explained to IFA Magazine why we shouldn’t be surprised to see SME lending go up amidst this uncertainty, and why the FS market needs to follow suit and support UK business.

“The message here is that business must continue as usual, regardless of the Westminster-Brussels psychodrama. Businesses still need cash to invest. New projects still need to launched and new customers still have to be served. The SME market in this country is still pushing for growth, however incompetent its political leaders.

 
 

“We shouldn’t be surprised to see business lending at a two-year high. Good debt is good for business. Injecting cash into stable companies is the foundation of economic growth – we need to see more of this bullish approach from business as we approach October 31st. We need to see companies taking control of their own futures with sustainable growth finance – not emulating our perpetually dithering government.

“The question is whether the UK’s financiers will support them. The banks have been routinely turning down smaller companies’ loan requests for years now. They may have low-cost capital in spades, but they’re not letting British SMEs put it to work. Instead, businesses need to look beyond the high street and seek out alternative finance that will treat them with the respect they deserve. SMEs need personalised, flexible finance if they’re to make it through the next six months in one piece.

“It’s good to see our small businesses taking this challenge head on. Now we need to see the financiers following suit.”

 
 

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