THE £200bn injected into the financial system to boost lending has not filtered through to Britain’s small and medium-sized businesses, a survey claimed today.
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said 33% of companies reported accessing finance had been more difficult over the past three months, a deterioration on the 20% reported in June.
A further 64% of respondents to the BCC’s monthly business survey reported no change in finance availability, while just 3% said the situation had improved.
As well as battling continued lending constraints, the 400 businesses questioned in the survey were gloomy about general trading conditions.
The study found that 64% of participants said that their biggest barrier to growth over the next 12 months was the lack of customer demand.
BCC director-general David Frost said: “The biggest issue facing British businesses is still demand for products and services.
“It is clear the huge sums injected into the financial system are still not reaching small and medium-sized businesses.”
