A war of words has broken out between the British Bankers Association (BBA) and the Institute of Directors (IoD) after the business group claimed most companies who've sought finance in the last year were rejected by their bank.
According to the report by the IoD, 60% of those companies required funding in 2009/10 were turned down with 20% turning to credit cards to finance their business. The employers' organisation also criticised the government's Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) scheme saying the promised support is not getting through. More than three quarters of those applying were not even offered information on the EFG, it said.
"The fact that over half of all businesses seeking finance last year were turned away by their banks is totally incompatible with the banking sector's position on the state of lending in the UK," commented IoD director general Miles Templeman.
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