ACCESS TO FINANCE

Industry, government and the financial sector need to work together better to make sure those ambitious businesses have the right skills to attract the right investment to support their ambitions for growth and in doing so the UK’s ambitions for growth in creative clusters up and down the UK. [...] As well as being more likely to have funding through friends and family, in the past and these bodies were 60% of firms were using one or more creative businesses were also more also seen as both a key source of information about sources and types forms of finance, as recorded on the SME likely to have had an injection of personal funds from the owner/ of finance and a potential source of finance. [...] SMEFM Creative 13 ATTITUDES TO FINANCE WHILST KEEN TO USE FINANCE, THEY ARE ALSO THOUGH WARY OF CREATIVE BUSINESSES STRUGGLE TO THE LOSS OF CONTROL, THE TERMS ACCESS WHAT THEY NEED AND FEEL AND CONDITIONS AND THE COST THEIR SECTOR IS NOT UNDERSTOOD OF FINANCE, WHICH TEMPERS THE 67% BY LENDERS. [...] THOUGHT 61% of creative businesses agreed 5 4% agreed that they were wary of that they were happy to use external using external finance due to the THAT finance to help the business grow perceived loss of control and 56% felt and develop (compared to 51% on that funding comes with too many LENDERS SMEFM) but 67% thought that lenders terms and conditions. [...] 73% OF CREATIVE SMES EXPECTED TO GROW IN THE NEXT 12 MONTHS 83% PLANNED TO INNOVATE AND 68% HAD INTERNATIONAL AMBITIONS 17 EXTERNAL FINANCE IS A SEEN AS H alf of creative businesses were KEY PART OF THIS GROWTH, WITH currently using less than £25,000 7 IN 10 SAYING THEY WILL NEED of external funding, but just 22% MORE EXTERNAL FINANCE TO expected to need that amount of DEVELOP NEW PRODUCTS AND fun.