Challenger and specialist bank lending reached record high
£35.5bn
lent by challenger and specialist banks in record year, exceeding lending by the major UK banks
12.8%
increase in gross bank lending to smaller businesses in 2022 versus 2021, to £65.1bn
£8.5bn
fall in net lending, in large part reflecting repayment of Covid loans
11%
increase in transactions in the smaller business asset finance market, reaching a new high of £22.1bn in 2022
Demand for smaller business finance is down
33%
of smaller businesses were using external finance in Q3 2022, compared to 44% the year prior
64%
success rate for those seeking loans, sharply falling from 80% year on year
Net zero deal numbers outperforming the wider equity market
12%
of all current smaller business equity deals are net zero-related deals, compared to just 5% in 2018
184%
rise in investment value of net zero-related deals over the past year to a new record level of £1.7bn
36%
of UK net-zero related deals and a third of net-zero related investment value took place in London
Greater share
of net zero-related deal count or investment value than share of UK turnover from low-carbon businesses in Scotland and South East of England
Innovation required to boost productivity and economic growth
65%
of innovative businesses use external finance compared to 58% of non-innovators
9%
of non-innovating smaller businesses cited the availability of finance and 8% the cost of finance as significant barriers to innovation