Beer & Young senior associate Michael Morley Smith comments that he is not surprised that Project Merlin appears to have failed. Despite the agreement to boost lending, the number of small businesses using a loan or bank overdraft has fallen over the last two years. The top 5 banks, including Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and Santander missed their agreed targets for last year.
Overall lending however is still above target, showing that money is going to large businesses, rather than small and new businesses that require it. The Merlin banks decreased small business lending by 6% (falling short of the SME lending target of £1 million) although promising to grow it, leaving jobs and growth hanging in the balance.
Michael further comments “we operate the largest and most active network of investors in the UK. I talk with investors almost every day, they are serious about helping small businesses and have capital to invest”.
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