A recent report conducted by the British Business Bank has studied small businesses in the UK and their attitude to external finance.
The researchers uncovered that more small-scale businesses based in the West Midlands were open to the idea of using external finance to drive expansion than enterprises operating in other parts of the country.
Data was collected using the bank’s innovative Nations and Regions tracker. The report revealed that while external finance use remained steady, the value of bank loans and overdrafts in the West Midlands showed the highest growth rate (36%), with firms in the region seeking swifter options to expand.
Detailed statistics indicated that there was likely to be a sustained demand in the future for finance solutions like SME business loans to support growth. The West Midlands had the sharpest rise in smaller enterprises with an open-minded approach to employing external finance to propel business growth in 2024, increasing by 20% to reach 49%, compared to the national average of a 6% increase.
Figures for external finance use in the region among smaller businesses stayed steady, with only a slight decline dropping to 47%. This gave the West Midlands the UK’s third highest usage rate and aligned it with other regions in the UK, as external finance usage across 50% of the nation remained stable or only marginally increased. Overall, the percentage of smaller UK businesses employing external finance dropped by just one point in 2023 to 45%.
