Call for new business lending bank

ISME has noted an improvement in the level of bank lending to small businesses but said credit levels are still a long way off normal patterns.

In its latest quarterly Bank Watch Survey, the small firms lobby group said 42% of respondents who have applied for funding within the last three months were turned down by their banks. This number was down from the 55% reported in the preceding quarter.

“The improvement reported in the quarter, while welcome, is still twice the refusal rate experienced in ‘normal’ times and doesn’t go far enough to addressing the credit crisis,” according to ISME chief executive Mark Fielding.