Government finance initiatives ‘not succeeding’
AN OVERWHELMING proportion of Yorkshire businesses believe that government funding initiatives have not helped their organisations.
The findings, from the latest Close Brothers Business Barometer, have also revealed that only 12.1% of SME owner managers believe the government support small and medium-sized businesses enough.
Nine-tenths of those questioned feel that national funding initiatives such as Funding for Lending and Project Merlin have not helped their businesses.
Lee Hayes, regional sales director for Close Brothers Invoice Finance in Yorkshire and the Humber, said: “At a time when growth should be encouraged, it is worrying to see that the majority of local businesses feel a lack of support from the government.
“SMEs are the foundation of our economy and their growth should absolutely be supported. However, with the lack of confidence in government funding initiatives and traditional forms of lending often hard to secure, businesses need to be reassured that funding is still available.”
The survey also found that 32.8% of those questioned plan to raise finance over the next 12 months. However, only 10.5% plan to do so through invoice finance.
Meanwhile, a separate piece of research by Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance of 1,000 SMEs has found that cashflow is essential for business recovery.
The research found that half of those questioned said they have cash flow concerns, or have done in the past, yet, one in 10 are resorting to selling off assets and bank overdrafts (18%) to help free up their balance sheet.
St John Emms, senior business development manager for the Yorkshire region at Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance, said: “These issues with banks and SMEs gaining funding are nothing new – but continues to be concerning as many SMEs aren’t aware of the range of finance options available, such as the access to invoice finance services.”
