12th edition of the British Business Bank’s Small Business Finance Support
The British Business Bank have released the results of their annual Small Business Finance Markets report. This year’s report focuses on how lending to smaller businesses has changed since the Financial Crisis in 2008 with increased entry by new challenger and specialist banks, and non-bank debt providers, increasing the range of finance options available to smaller businesses.
The report is based on the 2025 Business Survey conducted by Ipsos and which surveyed 1,734 smaller businesses between September and December 2025. The survey covers topics including demand for finance, experiences when seeking finance, awareness of finance options, the use of AI in developing products and processes and the extent of business’s interactions with the eight key sectors in the Government’s Industrial Strategy.
The key findings (representative of the UK SME population) are as follows:
- Smaller business lending markets have developed over the last 15 years from being dominated by the high street banks to now including challenger and specialist banks and a wider range of non-bank providers.
- Around half of smaller businesses seek external finance with increased use of flexible forms of finance in 2025 to support cash flows.
- New business start-ups are an important part of a dynamic economy, with signs of more UK start up activity in the last two years.
- Equity finance is important for supporting scale-up companies, but investment declined in 2025 and now stands at 2019 levels.
- Challenges in accessing finance remain for some under-represented groups and geographic areas.
The full report can be found on the British Business Bank website here
