The banks are still not lending to SME’s. According to the Bank of England today, “small businesses are still being rejected, ignored and treated unfairly by banks”, MPs were told yesterday.
Sir Mervyn King said yesterday that “Lending to businesses by banks is still falling”
The big question is when will the lending climate improve. I personally think that although the climate is harsh, it could get worse in the next year as the Greek question on default begins to affect not only Greece, but the banks who have lent money into Greece. To give you an idea to the size of the problem, according to the BBC, bank & private lending from French Banks into Greece is just over $40 billion, Germany next with $11 billion, and the UK at just over $10 billion.
If these loans turn into problems, this amount of money will simply disapear from the debt market and will have to be refinanced through other ways, most probably via the relevant governments.
At the moment, although the conditions are very tough, we at Oak have the ability to lease or refinace projects from £1000 up to £5 million plus, both in the UK as well as Europe, and crucially have expanded our lines well into the next few years.
So if you are looking for hens teeth, you know where to come!