Small businesses feel they are on their own

24/05/2007  11:25:36

Thousands of small businesses feel they are not sufficiently catered for by the nations banks.

According to new research from Yorkshire Bank, 36 per cent of business start-ups and other small firms feel that banks are only interested in helping large companies.

Some 37 per cent of those opting for independent company formation, who originally wanted to be their own boss, also admitted they miss having a "sounding board" to discuss ideas with when making business decisions.

Gary Lumby, head of retail and small business at Yorkshire Bank said: "Its worrying that smaller businesses dont know where they can turn to for business advice and feel that banks dont cater for their needs.

This is particularly concerning when you consider that our research shows 42 per cent of people set up their own business in a field that is alien to their experience and that just one in four (27 per cent) running their own business have any managerial experience at all."

Other major issues concerning respondents included management of cashflow, compliance with company legislation - specifically EU legislation, chasing late payments and marketing issues.

There are currently over four million business enterprises in the UK, the vast majority of which are classed as "small" (0 to 49 employees).

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