Credit access extension planned

Date: 14th September 2009

The chancellor Alistair Darling has revealed plans to broaden the sources of finance available to small businesses in the UK.

Coming ahead of his Pre-Budget report, Mr Darling explained that more will be done to ensure that smaller enterprises are no longer largely reliant upon the 'big four' high street banks for their capital.

Writing in the Observer newspaper, he argued that one of the most important lessons to be learnt from the current downturn is that credit to businesses should not be permitted to dry up due to an over-reliance on just a small number of banks.

"In the same way that big companies can access funding directly from capital markets, by issuing bonds or commercial paper, I want to start creating a different financial model in the future, in which small companies get funding from sources other than banks," he stated.

These comments come soon after the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) called on the Bank of England to further stimulate lending to Britain's small businesses.