Record levels of smaller businesses sought external financial support
45%
of SMEs applied for external financial support in 2020, compared to 13% in 2019
£104bn
gross bank lending (excluding overdrafts) to smaller businesses, 82% higher than 2019
Surge in use of government-backed finance schemes and grants
25%
of SMEs using loans, up from 10% in previous years
31%
of businesses using grant funding, up from 2% in 2019
External finance most often sought for cashflow
89%
of businesses seeking finance in 2020 did so because of the impact of Covid-19
75%
of these SMEs sought external finance to help with cashflow
Both cash balances and debt have risen
23%
of SMEs have spent all their facilities, and 19% had not spent any by Q3 2020
59%
of SMEs using Covid-19 loans have borrowed more than 20% of their turnover
Moving towards recovery
21%
of businesses expected to grow over the next 12 months in the 4th quarter of 2020
SMEs in business services (25%) and production (23%) sectors were most optimistic about their prospects for growth over the next year
More SMEs will look to grow as the economy emerges from lockdown