Access to finance as a major obstacle to SMEs in the UK, by sector 2014-2019

Published by D. Clark, Aug 8, 2024
This statistic displays the share of small and medium enterprises (SME) expecting access to external finance to be a major obstacle to running the business in the next 12 months in the United Kingdom (UK) as of 2nd quarter 2014 to 2019, by sector. In 2014, it was found that the manufacturing sector had the highest proportion of SMEs with this expectation at 12 percent, by 2019 this share had decreased to 5 percent.

Share of small and medium enterprises (SME) expecting access to external finance to be a major obstacle to running the business in the next 12 months in the United Kingdom (UK) as of 2nd quarter 2014 to 2nd quarter 2019, by sector*

CharacteristicQ2 2014Q2 2015Q2 2016Q2 2017Q2 2018Q2 2019
Health and Social work 4% 2% 7% 5% 7% 13%
Construction 7% 3% 5% 3% 5% 12%
Transport, Storage and Communication 10% 5% 8% 5% 4% 9%
Agriculture, Hunting and Forestry; Fishing 5% 5% 4% 3% 5% 8%
Other Community, Social and Personal Service Activities 12% 6% 4% 3% 6% 7%
Wholesale and Retail Trade; Repairs 10% 6% 7% 6% 5% 6%
Manufacturing 12% 4% 5% 4% 10% 5%
Real Estate, Renting and Business Activities 8% 5% 3% 3% 5% 4%
Hotels and Restaurants 10% 6% 6% 8% 5% 4%
Showing entries 1 to 9 (9 entries in total)
Created with Highcharts 7.2.2Percentage of SMEs13%13%12%12%9%9%8%8%7%7%6%6%5%5%4%4%4%4%7%7%5%5%4%4%5%5%6%6%5%5%10%10%5%5%5%5%5%5%3%3%5%5%3%3%3%3%6%6%4%4%3%3%8%8%7%7%5%5%8%8%4%4%4%4%7%7%5%5%3%3%6%6%2%2%3%3%5%5%5%5%6%6%6%6%4%4%5%5%6%6%4%4%7%7%10%10%5%5%12%12%10%10%12%12%8%8%10%10%Q2 2014Q2 2015Q2 2016Q2 2017Q2 2018Q2 2019Health and Social workConstructionTransport, Storage and CommunicationAgriculture, Hunting and Forestry; FishingOther Community, Social and Personal Service ActivitiesWholesale and Retail Trade; RepairsManufacturingReal Estate, Renting and Business ActivitiesHotels and Restaurants
0%1%2%3%4%5%6%7%8%9%10%11%12%13%14%15%

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Release date

September 2019

Region

United Kingdom

Survey time period

2nd quarter 2014 to 2nd quarter 2019

Number of respondents

4,500 respondents

Special properties

SME

Method of interview

Face-to-face interviews, telephone interviews

Supplementary notes

* Respondents were asked to rate (from 1 to 10) the extent to which they expected access to external finance to be an obstacle to them running the business as they would wish in the next 12 months. The following scale was used:
1-4 = a minor obstacle
5-7 = a moderate obstacle
8-10 = a major obstacle
The share of those who answered with a rating of between 8 and 10 are detailed here.
The respondent was the person in charge of managing the business’s finances. Data was collected via interview.
In order to qualify for interview, SMEs had to meet the following criteria in addition to the quotas by size, sector and region:
Not 50%+ owned by another company
Not run as a social enterprise or as a not for profit organisation
Turnover of less than £25m
Not all percentages sum to 100. This is due to rounding.

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