Many small businesses want to grow. Although many do not grow at a rate that would categorise
them as a ‘scale-up’ (as defined by the OECD), those businesses that display, or aspire to, moderate
growth remain hugely important to the UK economy and should not be underestimated.
Following the 2008 financial crisis, there has been a material reduction in the proportion of smaller
businesses seeking external finance. Trust, once lost, is hard to win back. The latest data from the
British Business Bank (BBB) suggests that 70% of smaller businesses would rather accept slower
growth than seek to maintain or increase growth by attempting to access external finance. So, much
more needs to be done to rebuild trust and tackle both latent as well as discouraged demand.
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