The latest study from YouGov raises some serious questions over the availability of credit for the UK's one million micro-firms, with one in four worried their business could fold in the next two years. Accounting for more than 90% of the UK's businesses, micro-firms - classed as a business employing less than ten people - are undeniably the engine of the economy, which makes it even more important that they are given the support that's necessary in order to secure their financial stability.
The challenges facing them are vast, but more than one in three said they found it harder to fund their business over the past 12 months, with one in five saying their bank accounts are empty. Access to credit is a lingering problem for smaller firms in particular, as demonstrated by the Bank of England confirming the UK's banks failed to meet their lending targets to small and medium-sized firms by £1.1 billion in 2011 under the Project Merlin initiative.
The challenges facing them are vast, but more than one in three said they found it harder to fund their business over the past 12 months, with one in five saying their bank accounts are empty. Access to credit is a lingering problem for smaller firms in particular, as demonstrated by the Bank of England confirming the UK's banks failed to meet their lending targets to small and medium-sized firms by £1.1 billion in 2011 under the Project Merlin initiative.
