BBA Director Paul Ross said: "Today's figures show that UK banks are willing and able to provide credit to small businesses . The Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme is only in its infancy but is already helping banks provide small business finance to viable businesses which might otherwise struggle to get credit . Banks are working closely with their customers to help them in difficult economic conditions and with the government to find new and innovative ways to support the UK economy and to provide lending to firms."
Mr Ross said banks were also working hard to ensure their staff were aware of the scheme and able to provide the support required by small businesses in the current climate.
This contrasts with the findings of a survey of its members by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) which found bank managers were putting unnecessary obstacles in the way of firms seeking help and that many high-street branch managers had no idea the scheme even existed.
The poll of more than 4,000 small businesses found that only 8% of them said their banks were making the EFG scheme available to them.
Stephen Alambritis, a spokesman for the FSB, said: “The banks are not releasing to small businesses the money that the government has put in place. They are not up to speed with the parameters of the schemes, and so businesses are going in and asking for money under the new schemes and they are being given preconditions that only existed under the old schemes.
“We are finding that banks are still being very harsh with small businesses.”
“There is a disparity between the aspirations of entrepreneurs who are not in expansion mode but need some money to tide them over, and bank managers being very risk averse. There are huge problems.”
