The Intermediary –- June 2026 - Flipbook - Page 70
SPECIALIST FINANCE
Opinion
Why SME borr
turning to spe
f one looks purely at the
headline figures, there are
certainly some encouraging
signs that small to medium
enterprise (SME) lending
in the UK is beginning to
move in a more positive direction
again. According to the latest figures
from UK Finance, gross lending to
businesses increased from £16.1bn
to £17.5bn last year, with the most
notable growth coming from smaller
firms with turnover below £2m.
Aer a period in which many
businesses understandably paused
borrowing decisions while inflation,
interest rates and the broader
economy moved around them, that
improvement is clearly welcome.
However, in my experience, those
numbers only ever highlight a
snapshot of what is really happening
on the ground. At London Credit,
we spend a lot of time speaking with
brokers and market participants,
and when you do so, a more layered
and slightly more complex paern
takes shape.
Access to finance may well be
improving in broad terms, but the
types of transactions borrowers
are pursuing today are oen more
involved than even 10 or 15 years ago.
I
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The Intermediary | June 2026
As a result, many businesses are
increasingly looking towards specialist
lenders rather than relying solely on
the traditional banking route.
Recent research from the National
Association of Commercial Finance
Brokers (NACFB) offers a useful
insight into how the SME finance
market is continuing to develop.
According to its latest intermediary
market outlook, NACFB member
brokers arranged £33bn in lending for
UK businesses last year.
That in itself is a significant figure,
but what I personally find particularly
telling is another statistic contained
within that research.
According to the report, 26% of
customers approaching brokers had
already been turned away elsewhere
before securing finance.
SME needs
That single statistic neatly captures
something many of us see regularly
in the specialist lending space. Quite
oen, the issue facing SME borrowers
is not that funding simply does not
exist. Instead, the challenge is that
the structure, speed or scope of that
funding does not necessarily align
with the specific transaction they are
trying to complete.
CONSTANTINOS
SAVVIDES
is head of underwriting
at London Credit
Over the past decade, the nature
of SME borrowing has changed
quite considerably. Businesses today
are frequently dealing with tighter
timeframes and increasingly varied
commercial models. For instance,
acquisitions involving mixed use
assets, refurbishment projects or
vacant commercial buildings will
oen require short-term funding
before a longer-term facility can
realistically be put in place.
In situations like these, flexibility
around structure, speed and strategy
