Ever since the financial crisis of 2007 one story has seemed to be constant: lending to British small businesses has been in the doldrums. Whether it’s been an overdraft at the bank just to keep cashflow going or bigger loans for investment, the usual story has been that it has been hard for many businesses to get the credit they need to stay afloat.
So it’s good to report that it looks like the tide has changed and the money supply is more fluid.
According to the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB), in the year to the end of July 2017, SME lending in the UK was up 30% to £20.7 billion year on year. And has finally returned to and exceeded the 2007 level.
Interestingly, according to the figures, peer-to-peer and crowdfunded lending declined in the same period while commercial mortgages increased 54.8%.
NACFB CEO Adam Tyler says “With the UK’s SME community showing a real appetite for growth, despite the uncertainty of Brexit, we have seen small business lending at levels above even those registered before the financial crash.”
