Lawyers Back Calls For More Awareness Around Government Scheme

By Rob Dixon

Business legal specialists have backed calls for the Government to increase awareness of its Funding for Lending scheme, to ensure that companies are aware of the options available to them in relation to cheaper finance.

New figures from the Bank of England have shown lending from banks involved in the scheme saw a pick-up in the second quarter of this year, although this was attributed to mortgage lending as opposed to business lending.

The release of the figures has come after the Federation of Small Businesses highlighted figures which suggested 61 per cent of SMEs were unaware of the Funding for Lending Scheme, with the body calling for more to be done to ensure companies understand the options they have.

Banking specialists at Irwin Mitchell specialise in providing advice and support to businesses regarding their finance needs.

Jon Bew, a Partner and specialist in the team of experts, said: “The calls from the FSB and the Bank of England’s figures have highlighted a concerning trend which suggests that many businesses, including smaller firms which often need support to thrive, are simply not aware of the options they have available to them.

“We would urge businesses to get specialist advice and support on what they could make use of in the coming months, including the benefits of alternative finance options such as invoice finance, asset based lending and peer-to-peer lending.

“Many of these play a key role in the Funding for Lending scheme, but the lack of awareness on this means that knowledge of them may be passing some companies by.

“More needs to be done to ensure that those businesses which need finance options the most are getting the right advice at the right time.”

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