Barclays maintains commitment to SMEs |
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| Finance | |
| Written by Gary Howes | |
| Friday, 22 May 2009 | |
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Barclays says lending to SMEs is robust but evidence suggesting otherwise still lingers. The contentious issue of bank lending to SMEs is in the news again as Barclays CEO John Varley maintains his banks support to the community. Varley told the Entrepreneurs’ Forum that Barclays (LON:BARC) was approving over 70% of small business loan applications - while the success rate for the broader business community is 90%.John Varley also said the banking giant remains keen to lend to small business leaders despite the ongoing credit crisis. Despite the assurances SME Web believes that the issue of SME lending in the current climate continues to be a complex one - the recession could yet still deepen as a result. This month we reported that a recently reported exercise by a national finance broker put the profile of a “perfect” small business borrower customer to all the major banks and none of them could see the opportunity. Back in November, bank CEOs were falling over each other to issue reassuring words and guarantees - including RBS Group and Lloyds Group - that they would not increase pricing on small business facilities in 2009 from 2007/8 prices. However the exercise found it to be undoubtedly true that businesses are finding that this year’s overdraft review is generally an expensive experience. Fees that were subject to standard rates that were always negotiable (downwards) are now subject to new “policy” that says they are “minimum” rates. However there is a wealth of information contained on this site that SMEs will find useful in negotiating the issue of SME finance. Finance is available but SME owners require a degree more acumen than in previous years.
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