The NACFB increase SME funding to £8.9bn

The NACFB increase SME funding to £8.9bn




The National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB) has announced that lending levels to SMEs has increased for the third year running, totaling £8.9 billion.

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The National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers (NACFB) has announced that lending levels to SMEs has increased for the third year running, totaling £8.9 billion.


 

 

The results of the Association’s annual member survey have revealed:


 

 

- 100 per cent increase in asset and equipment finance from NACFB brokers;

 

 

- Another increase in commercial property lending;

 

 

- Debtor finance levels out after four years of growth;

 

 

- Short term lending increases again, this year by over 40 per cent.


 

 

Commenting on the results, Adam Tyler, Chief Executive of the NACFB, said: “We have continued to see the SME community struggling to raise funding whilst being faced with increased costs. Our latest figures reveal the true position of both excellent and vulnerable businesses across the whole of the UK.


 

 

“Despite many lenders’ protestation that they are lending more than ever, these figures reveal what anecdotal evidence has already shown: that funding for businesses is still hard to access, but it has improved, if you know where to look. The NACFB has 83 different commercial lenders that are part of its 1,000-member organisation. We are very pleased to report that there has been an increase in lending over the last twelve months; this is now coming from a wider variety of lenders and is also being lent in a real variety of ways.”

 

Business levels 2011/2012

 

 

 

Last year

Year on year %

This year

Commercial Mortgages

2,158,338,643

26.72

2,735,054,765

Leasing & Asset Finance

1,027,142,233

100.28

2,057,133,277

Invoice Finance

951,165,294

-2.51

927,312,722

Vehicle Finance

306,055,817

-25.22

228,855,400

Buy-to-let

1,049,407,799

2.09

1,071,340,256

Bridging

254,126,774

41.40

359,342,374

Development (NEW)

2,585,114,421

-48.69

1,326,462,117

Other

298,435,045

-6.99

277,582,000

GRAND TOTAL

8,629,786,026

4.09

8,983,082,911

 

 

Commercial mortgages rose by just over 26 per cent and asset finance went up by 100 per cent. Asset finance brokers in particular have seen an increase in activity and lenders and these figures are in line with a growth in the Association’s membership of this division over the last 12 months, and short term lending has grown by over 40 per cent.

 

 

This is welcome news as despite the introduction of the National Loan Guarantee scheme and Funding for Lending, small business confidence is dropping and the number of rejected loan applications has increased, rising from 40.6 per cent in Q1 to 42.4 per cent in Q3, according to the third quarterly ‘Voice of Small Businesses Index’, published yesterday by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

Nearly two thirds of those in the FSB survey said they thought finance was unaffordable and about half the 2,600 respondents wanted to expand in the coming 12 months.

FSB’s Chairman John Walker stated in the report: “The message is clear though - businesses want to grow and invest but they need a helping hand to do so. It is frustrating that bank finance is still difficult to get. 

"No matter what is said about demand, more than 40 per cent of applicants have been refused in each quarter this year. This has to change if growth aspirations are to be met." 

Adam Tyler added: “Around 90 per cent of small businesses bank with the four main high street banks; when it comes to borrowing, SMEs, with our guidance, are now reaching out to a wider variety of lenders. The NACFB is embarking on a new initiative this autumn, which sees our work over the last 12 months come to the fore. 

“We now have a new central hub that is starting to take leads directly from the small business community from some of the largest trade bodies. These businesses need to feel confident when they are considering borrowing, and the NACFB is there on a national basis to fill any voids left in funding for UK SMEs.”

 

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