Only 38% of SME firms understand how invoice finance works according to Close Brothers’ latest business barometer.
The research also revealed that more than half (57%) of these firms are not aware of any alternatives to funding outside of traditional banking,
Despite the lack of understanding towards alternative finance, 49% of SME leaders now believe the UK economy is on the upwards trend.
Furthermore, more than a fifth (22%) of SME firms expect their business to perform stronger over the next 12 months, and only 11% expect contraction or closure.
This comes after rising inflation was reported to have a major impact on firms, with producer price inflation in March being 3.6% against general inflation which is only 2.3%.
