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SME Data Hub

1,000 UK SME owners across a range of sectors, regions and sizes, are surveyed regularly by specialist independent researcher, Kantar, on Close Brothers’ behalf.

Select a year and quarter to review the data we collected at that time.

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Q4 2019

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Compare data: If the same question has been asked in other years/quarters, you can use the drop-down underneath each chart to see how results have changed over time.

Questions

As a business, where do you mainly go for financial support and advice?

Accountant 26.6%
Bank Manager 14.9%
Finance Advisor 24.2%
Peers 3.3%
Online 15.6%
Friend/family 9.3%
Solicitor/lawyer 3.2%
Other 2.9%
Don’t know, not involved in financial decisions making 0%
Accountant 29.8%
Bank Manager 17.1%
Finance Advisor 20.6%
Peers 2.9%
Online 12.6%
Friend/family 9.5%
Solicitor/lawyer 3.7%
Other 3.7%
Don’t know, not involved in financial decisions making 0%
Accountant 29.1%
Bank Manager 16%
Finance Advisor 21.3%
Peers 1.9%
Online 14.6%
Friend/family 11.7%
Solicitor/lawyer 3%
Other 2.3%
Don’t know, not involved in financial decisions making 0%
Accountant 30.9%
Bank Manager 13.1%
Finance Advisor 25.2%
Peers 1.3%
Online 15.3%
Friend/family 10.2%
Solicitor/lawyer 2.6%
Other 1.3%
Don’t know, not involved in financial decisions making 0%
Accountant 31.2%
Bank Manager 14.8%
Finance Advisor 21.6%
Peers 3.7%
Online 14.4%
Friend/family 11.7%
Solicitor/lawyer 2.7%
Other 0%
Don’t know, not involved in financial decisions making 0%
Accountant 33.6%
Bank Manager 13.9%
Finance Advisor 22.7%
Peers 2.3%
Online 13.6%
Friend/family 9.1%
Solicitor/lawyer 2.3%
Other 2.5%
Don’t know, not involved in financial decisions making 0%
Accountant 20.5%
Bank Manager 13.4%
Finance Advisor 15.2%
Peers 2.1%
Online 15.9%
Friend/family 23.6%
Solicitor/lawyer 2.4%
Other 6.8%
Accountant 21.7%
Bank Manager 12.6%
Finance Advisor 15.4%
Peers 5.7%
Online 21%
Friend/family 15.6%
Solicitor/lawyer 2.2%
Other (please specify) 5.9%
Accountant 24.9%
Bank Manager 15.2%
Finance Advisor 17.7%
Peers 2.6%
Online 18.6%
Friend/family 15.6%
Solicitor/lawyer 2.2%
Other (please specify) 3.2%
Accountant 22.1%
Bank Manager 12.1%
Finance Advisor 18.3%
Peers 3.3%
Online 23.4%
Friend/family 15.7%
Solicitor/lawyer 2.4%
Other (please specify) 2.6%

Thinking about access to funding, is it:

A major challenge - more difficult to access finance now than it was a year ago 22.9%
A moderate challenge - as difficult now to access finance as it was a year ago 41.9%
Becoming easier to access finance 11.6%
I have never had a problem accessing finance 23.7%
Don't know 0%
A major challenge - more difficult to access finance now than it was a year ago 31%
A moderate challenge - as difficult now to access finance as it was a year ago 34.6%
Becoming easier to access finance 11.5%
I have never had a problem accessing finance 22.9%
Don't know 0%
A major challenge - more difficult to access finance now than it was a year ago 24%
A moderate challenge - as difficult now to access finance as it was a year ago 36.9%
Becoming easier to access finance 13.5%
I have never had a problem accessing finance 25.6%
Don't know 0%
A major challenge - more difficult to access finance now than it was a year ago 26.7%
A moderate challenge - as difficult now to access finance as it was a year ago 40.6%
Becoming easier to access finance 12.9%
I have never had a problem accessing finance 19.8%
Don't know 0%
A major challenge - more difficult to access finance now than it was a year ago 19.3%
A moderate challenge - as difficult now to access finance as it was a year ago 40.6%
Becoming easier to access finance 15.1%
I have never had a problem accessing finance 25%
Don't know 0%
A major challenge - more difficult to access finance now than it was a year ago 22.3%
A moderate challenge - as difficult now to access finance as it was a year ago 39.4%
Becoming easier to access finance 14.3%
I have never had a problem accessing finance 24%
Don't know 0%
A major challenge - more difficult to access finance now than it was a year ago 12.8%
A moderate challenge - as difficult now to access finance as it was a year ago 19.6%
Becoming easier to access finance 12.9%
I have never had a problem accessing finance 31.9%
Don't know 22.7%
A major challenge - more difficult to access finance now than it was a year ago 12.4%
A moderate challenge - as difficult now to access finance as it was a year ago 21.8%
Becoming easier to access finance 12.2%
I have never had a problem accessing finance 30.8%
Don't know 22.8%
A major challenge - more difficult to access finance now than it was a year ago 11.6%
A moderate challenge - as difficult now to access finance as it was a year ago 29.2%
Becoming easier to access finance 15.1%
I have never had a problem accessing finance 28.3%
Don't know 15.7%
A major challenge - more difficult to access finance now than it was a year ago 12.2%
A moderate challenge - as difficult now to access finance as it was a year ago 25.8%
Becoming easier to access finance 14.2%
I have never had a problem accessing finance 31.1%
Don't know 16.7%
A major challenge - more difficult to access finance now than it was a year ago 13.7%
A moderate challenge - as difficult now to access finance as it was a year ago 27.6%
Becoming easier to access finance 21%
I have never had a problem accessing finance 22.7%
Don't know 14.9%

Does your business plan to seek funding for business investment in the next 12 months?

yes 59.1%
no 40.9%
Don't know 0%
yes 61.6%
no 38.4%
Don't know 0%
yes 50%
no 50%
Don't know 0%
yes 59.6%
no 40.4%
Don't know 0%
yes 53.8%
no 46.2%
Don't know 0%
yes 51.5%
no 48.5%
Don't know 0%
yes 17%
no 65.6%
Don't know 17.4%
yes 21.5%
no 58.5%
Don't know 20%
yes 23.1%
no 59.8%
Don't know 17.1%
yes 22.8%
no 61.1%
Don't know 16.1%
yes 28.1%
no 50.1%
Don't know 21.8%

Do you feel confident about accessing the funds your business needs for investment in the next 12 months?

yes 86.8%
no 13.2%
Don't know 0%
yes 89.6%
no 10.4%
Don't know 0%
yes 89.5%
no 10.5%
Don't know 0%
yes 87.8%
no 12.2%
Don't know 0%
yes 86.8%
no 13.2%
Don't know 0%
yes 84.6%
no 15.4%
Don't know 0%
yes 77.9%
no 15.6%
Don't know 6.5%
yes 77.8%
no 16.4%
Don't know 5.8%
yes 80.3%
no 8.7%
Don't know 11.1%

Has your business been declined access to finance by a bank in the last six months?

Yes 21.7%
No 66.4%
Our business hasn’t approached a bank for finance 11.9%
Don't know 0%
Yes 27.1%
No 60.7%
Our business hasn’t approached a bank for finance 12.2%
Don't know 0%
Yes 19.9%
No 67.6%
Our business hasn’t approached a bank for finance 12.5%
Don't know 0%
Yes 24.7%
No 63.4%
Our business hasn’t approached a bank for finance 11.9%
Don't know 0%
Yes 17%
No 71.4%
Our business hasn’t approached a bank for finance 11.6%
Don't know 0%
Yes 19.9%
No 80.1%
Our business hasn’t approached a bank for finance 0%
Don't know 0%
Yes 6.1%
No 60.5%
Our business hasn’t approached a bank for finance 29%
Don't know 4.4%
Yes 8.2%
No 72.9%
Our business hasn’t approached a bank for finance 0%
Don't know 18.9%
Yes 7.7%
No 63.2%
Our business hasn’t approached a bank for finance 25.8%
Don't know 3.3%

Have you missed a business opportunity in the last 12 months, due to lack of available finance?

yes 33.9%
no 66.1%
Don't know 0%
yes 39.4%
no 60.6%
Don't know 0%
yes 31%
no 69%
Don't know 0%
yes 34.3%
no 65.7%
Don't know 0%
yes 29.2%
no 70.8%
Don't know 0%
yes 27.3%
no 72.7%
Don't know 0%
yes 10.4%
no 79%
Don't know 10.6%
yes 10.7%
no 77.4%
Don't know 11.9%
yes 13.4%
no 78.6%
Don't know 8%
yes 12.6%
no 80.4%
Don't know 7%
yes 14.5%
no 76.7%
Don't know 8.8%

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