As we know access to finance amongst businesses has been tough and over the last few years the media has been filled with horror stories… but what is the reality on the ground?

Since mid 2011 an external body, the SME Finance Monitor team, has been carrying out quarterly independent research in to dealings between banks and small businesses when it comes to raising finance. Over the years the SME Finance Monitor Report has provided insight into what is really going on.

And the team has now released its latest report for quarter 1 2015.

So what are the key findings?

First the good news… 79% of those surveyed said they are now operating profitably.

This is up from 69% in the same quarter of 2013 – a significant improvement.

What about use of external sources of finance?

In quarter 1 of 2015 36% of businesses said they used external sources of finance.. that leaves a large number which are self-financing

Of those businesses using external finance 29% are using ‘core finance’ products such as overdrafts, loans and credit cards. This is down from 40% in the first quarter of 2012. This shows how businesses are moving away from the traditional sources of finance.

We often hear the statement that businesses are being starved of credit… well here’s the killer statistic which consistently comes out of this survey.

In the first quarter of 2015 48% of SMEs define themselves as ‘permanent non-borrowers’… they are not interested in borrowing and haven’t done so over the five years and don’t intend to in the future.

This was 30% in quarter 1 2012 so an increasing number of businesses are opting out of borrowing.
But what about business’ appetite to borrow over a shorter term?

The SME Finance Monitor team ask businesses about borrowing over the previous 12 months and looking ahead.

Here, 79% of businesses put themselves in this category – referred to as ‘Happy non-seekers of finance’

That’s nearly 80% of those surveyed saying they don’t want to borrow!

Added to that 72% of businesses said that their aim is to pay down their debt… and not borrow again.

So perhaps all the fuss about helping businesses to borrow is not as a big a problem as we think.

I’ll be returning to sharing more findings from the latest SME Finance Monitor Report so watch out for a future video.

In the latest Business Finance Bulletin episode Business Loan Services’ Rob Warlow looks at highlights from the most recent SME Finance Monitor Report which reveals a number of interesting findings on how businesses are dealing with the issue of raising finance.

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You can listen to this week’s edition as a podcast. To download to your phone, PC click below via our SoundCloud page or go to our itunes channel and subscribe.

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In the Business Finance Tip of the Week a clip from a live seminar in which Rob talks about the impact on cashflow of carrying too much stock.

If you would to listen to this episode in the podcast version click below to listen or to download to your computer or phone.

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If you would like the podcast version to listen to either on your phone or in the car click below to either listen to or download.

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In the Business Finance Tip of the Week a clip from an interview in which Rob talks about Business Plans and specifically what should be included in the Staff and Management section.

If you prefer to listen to this week’s Business Finance Bulletin in podcast form then click below and download.

In the latest Business Finance Bulletin episode Rob Warlow looks at a recent report from the British Business Bank on the low level of awareness and activity in selling equity to raise growth finance.

If you are sold on the idea of selling equity Rob looks at Crowdcube’s statistics for the first quarter of 2015. Crowdcube are demonstrating how raising growth finance via the crowd can work.

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In the Business Finance Tip of the Week a clip from a live seminar in which Rob talks about the importance to the bank of the purpose of your loan request and how you are going to use the money.

If you prefer to listen to the podcast version then simply download it from our SoundCloud page by clicking below.

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Crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending is one of the growth areas and Rob reviews a report on the sector undertaken by NESTA which highlights this rapid growth.

Rob also looks at the news of a forthcoming review into the banking sector to be carried out by the Competition and Markets Authority.

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And in the Business Finance Tip of the Week, a clip from a live seminar in which Rob Warlow shares his thoughts on when it’s best to share your Business Plan with the bank.

If you prefer you can also listen to this week’s episode as a podcast and download to your phone. To either listen or download simply click below via our SoundCloud page.

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You can access this Bulletin in two ways… watch the video on our You Tube Channel or listen and download the Bulletin to your phone via SoundCloud