The research revealed that total lending outstanding by high street banks to businesses reached £264.8bn in April.
The trade body’s business finance update found that there was a mixed picture within industry sectors.
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Borrowing by manufacturing businesses remained strong with 8% growth to £17.5bn, but lending outstanding for construction businesses dropped by 6.3% to £20.4bn, compared with April 2017.
The UK Finance data includes business conducted by the banking groups of Barclays, Lloyds, HSBC, RBS, Santander UK, TSB and Virgin Money.
The lending outstanding figure for businesses in the real estate and professional services sector stood at £110.6bn, a drop of 6.2% on April 2017.
Stephen Pegge, managing director of commercial finance at UK Finance, said that overall demand for finance among businesses remained subdued.
“There have been some fluctuations in business borrowing, particularly in the construction and real estate sectors.
“This reflects ongoing economic uncertainty, as firms continue to build their deposits and carefully consider long-term investment decisions.”
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