Bank lending to small and medium sized enterprises is still weak, but the Business Growth Fund (BGF) backed by all the major banks is helping to fill the gap.
It has advanced over £170 million to 35 companies since 2011 in a mixture of equity and debt, and targets profitable businesses with turnover of over £5 million, a sector known to be poorly served by other sources of finance. The BGF has resources of up to £2.5 billion to draw on.