Small business bank lending to hit six-year low: Now is the time for crowdfunding

A report out this week from Ernst & Young makes for depressing reading. Based on current trends,
the total lent by banks to SMEs by the end of 2012 will be the lowest annual amount since 2006.

To make matters worse, the government’s efforts to get the banks lending aren’t going to do much
to help. For example, the British Business Bank, Vince Cable’s attempt to free up £10bn worth of
funding for small businesses, will exhaust its lending capacity within a year, the group said.

The banks’ defence is that the demand for lending is falling but this is something small business
owners say simply isn’t true. They desperately need cash to launch innovative companies or grow
existing ones.

Crowdfunding has the power to make that happen.

Putting small companies in front of the general public, who have money to invest and the willingness
to back creativity and innovation, could really make a huge difference to the UK economy.

But the crowdfunding sector needs support to truly scale.

The government has so far only made token efforts to embrace the alternative finance industry.
We need updated financial regulations that will free up platforms like CrowdMission to link
entrepreneurs, who want to make the world a better place, with the people who want to support
them. Only then can crowd-investing become truly mainstream.

It is the power of the crowd that will help make Britain great again; not a bank manager
stamping ‘rejected’ on yet another loan application.