Business Insights

SME’s growth prospects are being hampered by a number of factors in the current climate. This includes a lack of credit availability, skills shortages and wavering consumer confidence.

The idea that the summer can be relied upon to kick-start a revival for struggling high street stores is a common theme that can be heard at this time of year.

When the government made a huge effort to propel SMEs in the UK to the forefront of the general economic recovery by throwing their weight behind the Funding for Lending Scheme, they will have hoped that companies everywhere will have received a boost in confidence.

While the UK recently avoided plunging into a triple-dip recession thanks to a 0.3% lift in GDP in the first quarter of the year, the fear that the economy is always teetering on the brink of collapse –think quantitative easing, tight lending conditions and more – is ever present.

While many businesses do not relish the prospect of raising further finance against their assets, the reality is that for a business to continue to operate successfully it needs access to working capital to effectively oil the wheels of its operation.