Speaking yesterday at the AltFi 2014 event, held in London, he said: “The most important single factor which is going to make recovery from this profound crisis difficult is the current access to finance for growing companies.
“It is very, very important that we have mutuals for finance both on the equity side and the loans side.”
It was stated that the alternative finance sector has a lot of potential, as gross lending could reach £1.6bn this year.
He added: “We are looking for growth areas to support - the facts suggest that we are in a very rapidly growing market here.
“There is a vast amount still to go. Alternative finance is already making a significant impact but it’s a very small shell in a growing market”
He also discussed the government’s business plan, which includes a £300m investment for small firms launched from April 2013.
Cable said: “Essentially we are trying to co-finance a joint account as a catalyst towards equity finance in its many forms.
“We recognise the rather dire position of the UK with funding, particularly with small and medium sized companies in the market and we need to do something about and we have a major opportunity following the banking crisis.
“We are trying to do things operated through the business plan. We want to do more and one of the reasons I am coming here is to get feedback so we can act as a catalyst for this process.”
