Commercial Finance Specialists

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is urging the government to find a way to help medium-sized businesses in the UK.

Medium-sized businesses need a broader range of commercial funding options, it contends, with lending constrained by banks and firms no longer able to rely on lending for long-term commercial development.

It is not just monetary factors, the CBI realise, that are important to this distribution, but owners and managers of these medium-sized businesses. They are proposing a series of recommendations for building their capabilities and encouraging further growth.

The Director-General of the CBI, John Cridland, expressed concern that the contribution made to the UK economy by medium-sized firms is considerably less than in France and Germany. The main reason for this, the institute argue, is unequal weighting, with some medium businesses performing very well and many suffering underneath.

"To achieve extra growth", Cridland said, "medium-sized firms must have access to new kinds of finance. This means opening UK bond markets to medium-sized businesses, encouraging use of venture capital, and making it easier for large companies to invest in medium ones, possibly in their supply chains."

Hence, the CBI hopes that the government will help to make bond markets more accessible to medium-sized businesses. It wants to see the reintroduction of a Corporate Venturing Incentive, which will reward large firms for investing downwards, and for the scope for R&D tax credits to be widened, which will encourage investment and innovation.

The CBI is the UK's largest business lobbying organisation, and represents over 250,000 businesses from both private and public sectors. It is hoped that their 'Future Champions' scheme will open up more opportunities for firms to seek asset finance or corporate finance.