16/11/2009 - Small businesses hit by lending
The Government's £200 billion economic boost to help lending has not reached Britain's small and medium-sized businesses, a survey has claimed.
Securing finance had been more difficult in the past three months for around 33% of companies, a sharp rise from June's figure of 20%, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said.
A total of 64% of the 400 businesses polled in the BCC's monthly survey said there was no change in finance availability, and only 3% reported an improvement. The respondents said they continued to battle lending restrictions and were pessimistic about general trading conditions.
Another 64% said a lack of customer demand was their biggest obstacle in the next year.
BCC director-general David Frost said: "Our latest survey results show that the biggest issue facing British businesses is demand for products and services. This means that any economic recovery is still fragile."
He added: "It is clear that the huge sums injected into the financial system by quantitative easing are still not reaching small and medium-sized businesses in anything like the scale required for business to invest for future success."
He said the December 9's Pre-Budget report must include measures that encourage companies to invest and improve confidence.
Copyright © Press Association 2009
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