Partner Article

Fall in awareness of SME scheme

The Government’s flagship initiative to help UK SMEs through the economic downturn and drag the country out of recession is failing to reach its target audience, according to research.

Of more than 1,000 SME owner-managers polled about the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) more than a third (37%) have not even heard of it, according to the latest quarterly survey carried out by Clifton Asset Management (CAM).

Of the 63% who have heard of the EFG, nine in ten said they saw “no benefit” in applying for its help.

The figures were released last week as the Chancellor announced an extension of the scheme by at least another six months beyond its current March 2010 cut off date.

According to the Treasury, the scheme has become a valued source of funding in the wake of the banking bailout and their subsequent reluctance to lend to small businesses.

“Our figures tell a different story,” said Anthony Carty, director at CAM. “For a start, according to our research the number of SME owner-managers who are even aware of the scheme has dropped by five per cent from the last quarter’s survey.

“And, of those who do know about the scheme and its aims, a massive 89 per cent have decided that there is no point in applying for it anyway.

“At a time when SMEs are bracing themselves for a double-whammy of tax increases and spending cuts it is a sorry state of affairs when awareness of the EFG appears to have fallen among business owner-managers.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .