Boost Capital has revealed that over a third of all demand from SMEs is coming from the hospitality industry. However, the recent figures from the Bank of England shows that lending to SMEs within the hospitality sector saw an annual drop in lending of -5.4%.
Overall lending to SMEs decreased by £0.7m in August – an annual ‘growth’ rate of -3.2% – meaning that UK small businesses are still struggling to find financing despite numerous Government schemes.
Boost Capital has seen the volume of enquiries and funded loans within the hospitality sector increase ahead of the average SME trend over the last six months. Many of the loans are going towards helping businesses to expand and remodel, as well as helping with business cash flow, inventory, equipment purchase and repair.
Marc Glazer, CEO at Boost Capital says: “We have seen a dramatic rise in enquiries from restaurants and bars specifically, since we launched in the UK. It seems that this sector is finding it particularly hard to access finance for growth from traditional means, and it is very encouraging to know that we can help them expand in an environment where liquidity seems to be further and further out of their reach.
“Small and medium-sized businesses are the foundation of the UK economy, and there are a great many SMEs with solid finances which are struggling to get access to capital to fulfil their growth plans. Without a much-needed boost in capital, growing SMEs cannot hope to contribute to the UK’s economic recovery.”
