With alternative finance becoming an increasing source of finance we kick off this Bulletin with news of the launch of The Association of Alternative Business Finance. Formed by seven players on the alternative business finance scene, the Association is focused on delivering higher standards in the industry.

Time is moving closer to government action on late payment. To lessen the prevalence of late payment I take a look at the forthcoming Duty to Report regulations which places an obligation on large businesses to disclose details of their payment practices.

Are there signs that business appetite to borrow money from banks is beginning to wane? We examine the latest bank lending figures released by the Bank of England.

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We start this latest Business Finance Bulletin by reviewing the launch of a new mobile banking service from Barclays which will allow its small business clients to apply for finance and, if accepted, receive funds within one hour.

We take our regular look at what the High Street banks are doing in terms of money lent out to business according to the latest statistics released by the Bank of England.

Family and friends are a popular source of finance amongst business owners mainly because of the ease with which funds can be accessed. However, new research has revealed how failure to pay back can cause relationships to breakdown. But to save the day we have details of a new Peer to Peer platform which can step in to ease the tension.

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In the latest Business Finance Bulletin, a look at a support package being granted by Santander to charities and community groups raising funds on Crowfunder. The match-funding deal will allow these organisations to further leverage the funds they raise.

Funding Circle have announced an upward movement in the maximum they can lend to certain categories of businesses. We look at how this is a positive move for good quality businesses in search of finance.

Turning to the traditional High Street lenders, we take our monthly look at how much banks are lending to small business owners with the release of the latest Bank of England figures. Is the figure up or down?

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We open this Business Finance Bulletin by taking a look at the latest Bank of England statistics on bank lending to small businesses. The figures to the end of July show strong support to SMEs but will this continue post-Brexit?

Bad debts and writing off irrecoverable amounts is not what you want to happen every day but new research reveals that many businesses are being faced with accepting losses on money owed to them.

Alternative finance continues to be a growing source of finance for small businesses and a new survey from Deloittes shows how many businesses are aware of it and intend to use it to fund growth plans. The findings suggest there is scope for improvement.

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In this Business Finance Bulletin, a look at the launch of the British Business Bank’s ‘Help to Grow’ scheme with £30m of loans being channelled through Lloyds Bank aimed at helping high growth and innovative firms.

New research from UHY Hacker Young has revealed how small businesses are taking a disproportionately high share of fines imposed by HMRC compared to their larger counterparts. We take a look at why that is.

It’s important you know what’s contained in your Credit Report and yet according to a recent survey carried out by Which, a large number of people have never looked at their report. We explain why you should do so when it comes to borrowing money.

And to close we have news from the Royal Bank of Scotland on how it’s going to signpost businesses it can’t help to alternative lenders via its new Capital Connections platform. It’s all part of the government’s drive to encourage banks to offer alternative lenders if they say ‘no’.

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In this Business Finance Bulletin, we have review of the proposals coming out of the Competition and Markets Authority report on how banks can improve services provided to its small business customers. The proposals range from enhanced transparency and the creation of a pricing comparison website.

We look at a survey which reveals how procurement managers are tackling late payment by using dynamic discounting to encourage faster payments or even payment up front. We share one way you can take advantage of this strategy.

Latest statistics from the Finance and Leasing Association show strong growth in the asset finance sector which as we report, put the banks to shame.

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In this latest Business Finance Bulletin, we take a look at a recent survey from Zurich Insurance on small business owner’s attitude to the risks they currently face. Whilst you can expect it makes slightly depressing listening to there is some good news as well.

Turning to business confidence generally findings from Aldermore Bank reveal that all is not doom and gloom amongst UK entrepreneurs with a lot of positively for the medium term.

We also take our monthly look at what banks are up to in terms of lending following release of the Bank of England’s latest bank lending statistics.

In the Business Finance Tip of the Week why, when it comes to raising finance, forewarned is forearmed.

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During the depths of the credit crunch access to finance was consistently quoted as the number one barrier to growth. This concern led to a swath of initiatives to encourage banks to lend more, none of which can claim to be a huge success.

However, whilst the access to finance barrier remains steadfastly in place for some businesses, there is clear evidence that many SMEs have successfully overcome this hurdle and got a ‘yes’ from their bank.

Throughout the credit crunch an independent research group, the SME Finance Monitor team, have been engaging with up to 5,000 SMEs each quarter to find out about their experiences of dealing with banks.

The findings have been a fascinating insight in to what is really going on and the last report to the quarter-ended June 2015 reveals that more businesses than you may think are getting a ‘yes’ from their bank.
With an improving economy the myth that the majority of businesses are struggling to get finance is slowly being eroded.

In terms of a successful outcome to a finance request what does the latest SME Finance Report reveal?
For mature businesses which applied for a new or renewed loan and/or overdraft facility in the 18 months to June 2015 the team found that a staggering 79% ended up with a facility. Higher than you thought?

The success rate has steadily been climbing with the latest result moving up from 67% seen in the previous 18 months to quarter 4 2013.

What do the figures look like for loans or overdraft requests on a separate basis?

Of the businesses that applied for an overdraft facility 84% were successful compared to 69% for loan applications; you will be more successful if you apply for a short-term facility.

Let’s drill down further; what about businesses that applied for finance for the very first time? Perhaps not too surprisingly they struggled more than repeat borrowers in getting what they requested. The outcome for first-time applicants was that 58% were successful; more work to do here!

The one finding that always comes as a shock to some is exactly how many businesses actually want to borrow. The assumption is often that a large majority of businesses are in need of finance. Each quarter though the SME Finance Monitor team blows this view out of the water.

In the latest report, when asked whether they have borrowed in the last 5 years or plan to seek finance in the next 3 months, those SMEs who answered ‘no’ are termed as Permanent Non-Borrowers. The result was that 49% of SMEs fell into this category and this has steadily increased over time, up from 34% in 2011. That means that almost half of the SMEs questioned have no interest in borrowing!

When the question on appetite to borrow is focused on a shorter period the figure is even more surprising. On being asked if they have borrowed over the previous 12 months, those SMEs answering ‘no’ were classified as Happy Non Seekers and 80% fell into this category. I’m sure you’ll agree that this figure is higher than most people would assume.

The message here is twofold: don’t automatically assume you’re going to get a ‘no’ from your bank because the majority of your fellow business owners are getting what they need. And secondly don’t fall into the trap of thinking that all businesses want to borrow; many are perfectly happy where they are.

In the latest Business Finance Bulletin episode Business Loan Services’ Rob Warlow looks at Amazon’s entry into the small business lending market by extending loans to businesses operating on its Marketplace.

In the latest figures from the Bank of England Rob looks at the level of support being given by banks to small business with continuing evidence that more finance is going out of the banks’ doors.

If you want to avoid the High Street banks Rob shares news of a new £40m SME fund launched by Enterprise Ventures in conjunction with Santander and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund. The fund seeks to provide loans to businesses across the UK, in all sectors and for a variety of purposes.

In the Business Finance Tip of the Week Rob talks with Rebecca Jones, the Red Shoe Biz Woman, on developing an entrepreneurial mindset amongst your staff.

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