Yorkshire and Humber firms receive increase in finance
BIBBY Financial Services has increased its lending to Yorkshire and Humber based SMEs by almost a third in the last 12 months.
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SMEs in the region have benefitted from more than £43m in funding year-to-date in 2013 thanks to support from the independent invoice finance provider.
The company’s lending to firms in the region has increased by 28% year-on-year from £34.3m to £43.9m in 2013.
Mark Storey, managing director for Bibby Financial Services in Yorkshire and Humber, said: “Improving financial liquidity for small and medium-sized enterprises across the UK is a priority for the Government, which should be encouraged by the contribution of alternative funding providers in responding to SMEs’ calls for better access to finance.
“The fact that we have been able to increase funding to SMEs across Yorkshire and Humber is obviously extremely positive, but Bibby Financial Services recognises there are still many credit-starved businesses out there and to address their needs all corners of the financial services industry need to play their part.”
The news comes shortly after the Asset Based Finance Association, which represents providers of factoring, invoice discounting and asset based lending in the UK, announced that its members lent £17.4bn to businesses in the 12 months to the end of June, up from £15.8bn for the same period in 2012.
Bibby said that the most recent Bank of England data shows that bank loans to businesses fell in the three months to June, despite Government efforts to ease the funding bottleneck through its Funding for Lending Scheme.
Storey added: “Our hope for the remainder of 2013 is that more businesses recognise they do have a choice when it comes to funding, and that they start to investigate the benefits of using a variety of sustainable sources of funding.
“Bibby Financial Services will continue to use its flexibility to service the needs of SMEs in the region and across the UK to ensure aspiring businesses have the funding support they need to grow.”
