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SME Data Hub

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

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Q1 2021

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Finance

34

%

accountants are the most popular source of financial support and advice

Summary

Published March 2021

Almost every business needs finance at some point, whether it’s for an office re-fit or to invest in their physical assets. Among others, we track where businesses mainly go for financial support and advice, and if they intend to seek funding for investment in the coming 12 months.

Questions

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

Accountant 32.6%
Bank Manager 14.4%
Finance Advisor 22.6%
Peers 5.8%
Online 14.2%
Friend/family 8.1%
Solicitor/lawyer 2.3%
Other 0%
Don’t know, not involved in financial decisions making 0%
Accountant 31.8%
Bank Manager 17.7%
Finance Advisor 24%
Peers 6.3%
Online 12.4%
Friend/family 6.1%
Solicitor/lawyer 1.7%
Other 0%
Don’t know, not involved in financial decisions making 0%
Accountant 34.3%
Bank Manager 15.5%
Finance Advisor 20.3%
Peers 5.7%
Online 13.7%
Friend/family 8.1%
Solicitor/lawyer 2.4%
Other 0%
Don’t know, not involved in financial decisions making 0%
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 27%
A moderate challenge - as difficult now to access finance as it was a year ago 37.7%
Becoming easier to access finance 10.8%
I have never had a problem accessing finance 24.6%
Don't know 0%
A major challenge - more difficult to access finance now than it was a year ago 30.2%
A moderate challenge - as difficult now to access finance as it was a year ago 38%
Becoming easier to access finance 11.4%
I have never had a problem accessing finance 20.3%
Don't know 0%
A major challenge - more difficult to access finance now than it was a year ago 23.2%
A moderate challenge - as difficult now to access finance as it was a year ago 41.4%
Becoming easier to access finance 11.9%
I have never had a problem accessing finance 23.5%
Don't know 0%
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 57.6%
no 42.4%
Don't know 0%
yes 59.2%
no 40.8%
Don't know 0%
yes 54.3%
no 45.7%
Don't know 0%
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 34%
no 47.1%
Don't know 18.9%
yes 28.1%
no 50.1%
Don't know 21.8%
Yes 23.5%
No 55.2%
Don't know 21.3%

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

yes 87.1%
no 12.9%
Don't know 0%
yes 80.1%
no 19.9%
Don't know 0%
yes 82.6%
no 17.4%
Don't know 0%
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%
yes 77.9%
no 15.1%
Don't know 7%
Yes 77%
No 11.1%
Don't know 11.9%

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

Yes 23.2%
No 63.1%
Our business hasn’t approached a bank for finance 13.7%
Don't know 0%
Yes 21.6%
No 65.3%
Our business hasn’t approached a bank for finance 13.1%
Don't know 0%
Yes 16.2%
No 69%
Our business hasn’t approached a bank for finance 14.8%
Don't know 0%
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%
Yes 11.8%
No 50.9%
Our business hasn’t approached a bank for finance 33.4%
Don't know 4%
Yes 5.6%
No 54.3%
Our business hasn’t approached a bank for finance 36.4%
Don't know 3.7%

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

yes 34.8%
no 65.2%
Don't know 0%
yes 34.9%
no 65.1%
Don't know 0%
yes 30.2%
no 69.8%
Don't know 0%
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%
yes 12.1%
no 80.2%
Don't know 7.7%

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