BCC comments on the BoE Credit Conditions Survey

6th January 2015

Commenting on the Bank of England's Credit Conditions Survey for Q4 2014, Dr Adam Marshall, Executive Director of Policy and External Affairs at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said: -With credit availability to small firms expected to weaken in the coming months, the findings from the latest credit conditions survey reinforce the case for more radical action by financial institutions, the regulators, the ministers building up the British Business Bank and the Bank of England itself, which must do so much more to build up a liquid market for SME debt.

-This comes at a time when many smaller businesses are generally feeling less satisfied with the level of service they receive from their bank, leaving many of those firms feeling discouraged from applying for finance, as highlighted in the latest Business Banking Insight Survey. -Unless financiers, regulators, ministers and the Bank of England are willing to take a risk to help new and growing firms, only the usual suspects will have access to growth capital in the UK - meaning that a lot of great business ideas will either move abroad or fail to take off.