A number of recent reports continue to confirm that lending from the high street banks continue to fall for SMEs and that the number of companies rejected for funding continues to increase.
Bank lending for SMEs is reducing whilst at the same time lending to large companies has increased by 43% – it is clear to see where their focus is!
This is on top of the abject failure of the Government Referral Scheme, which was supposed to help SMEs turned down for bank funding be referred elsewhere for finance.
Another report focused on why businesses are turned down for finance, with the key reasons cited by funders as:
1 – Lack of a solid and cohesive business plan
2 – Weak management team
3 – Unclear or unproven Business Model
4 – Lack of understanding of the financials of the business