UK Finance response to HMT and DBT Call for Evidence on Access to Finance

Our response looks at supply and demand, personal guarantees and the regulatory environment, and is based on the data and evidence we collect from our members as well as independent sources, such as the SME Finance Monitor and Bank of England data.

In our response, we outline five recommendations to help shape a more robust SME financing ecosystem for viable businesses:

Growth Guarantee Scheme (GGS) – we want to see an expansion of the GGS scheme to enable more lending.
Regulatory environment – needs to strike a better balance between risk, financial stability and customer protection.
Personal Guarantees - our evidence shows that they are used proportionately and that any regulatory change to personal guarantees (PGs) would restrict, rather than support, SME access to finance.
Business support and advice – The Business Growth Service needs to be supported by a comprehensive awareness raising campaign with SMEs and a plan for driving traffic to the service.
Underserved markets – it is essential that the government gives lenders the space and time to demonstrate the impact of targeted activities, rather than implementing a range of competing compliance requirements.