Small Business Finance
Markets Report 2019/2020
SMALLER BUSINESSES ARE VITAL TO THE UK ECONOMY
SIGNIFICANT GROWTH IN SMALL BUSINESS FINANCE MARKETS OUTSIDE OF BANK LENDING IN THE LAST
FIVE YEARS (2014 – 2018)
LOW DEMAND FOR FINANCE PRODUCTS IS LONG-STANDING, DESPITE A FLURRY IN 2019 AHEAD OF EU EXIT
A full list of sources is provided in the Small Business Finance Markets report 2019/20
5.9m
smaller businesses
in the UK
381,000
businesses created in 2018
– over 1,000 a day
16.6m
people working in
UK SMEs - 61%
of the private
sector workforce
Up 32%
value of smaller business
asset finance deals increased
to £19.4bn
Up 131%
value of smaller business
equity finance increased
to £6.7bn
Up by 14%
number of smaller business
equity finance deals increased
to over 1,600
Up 374%
marketplace business lending
(P2P) increased to £2.37bn
28%
of businesses expect to grow
over the next 12 months,
(down from 36% in 2018)
73%
of businesses would rather
forgo growth than borrow
Net bank lending up
driven by lower repayments
(down 4.3% to £54.7bn),
exceeding the fall in gross bank
lending (down 1.7% to £56.7bn)
45%
of smaller businesses
used external finance
(up from 36% in 2018)
42%
of smaller businesses are
permanent non-borrowers
Overdraft & credit
card use up
23% of SMEs used overdrafts
19% of SMEs used credit cards
the highest since 2012
29%
of those surveyed expected
EU exit to have a negative
impact on business growth
56%
of those surveyed expected
EU exit to have no impact
on their growth
£