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Bosses 'don't know where to get financial advice'

Published On 24 May 2007 at 15:55:29

Owners of small businesses in the UK do not know where they can get business advice, a new study found.

According to a survey from the Yorkshire Bank, 37 per cent of people who left larger organisations to set up their own businesses miss using colleagues as a sounding board for ideas.

Equally, more than a third (36 per cent) of SME owners felt that there bank was only interested in providing services and advice to larger organisations.

"It's worrying that smaller businesses don't know where they can turn to for business advice and feel that banks don't cater for their needs, commented Gary Lumby, Yorkshire Bank's head of retail and small business.

"This is particularly concerning when you consider that our research shows 42 per cent of people set up their own business in a field that is alien to their experience and that just one in four (27 per cent) running their own business have any managerial experience at all."

The bank's survey also revealed that 62 per cent of small business owners said their biggest worry is managing their cashflow. Nearly half (44 per cent) said they also waste time chasing late payments from their clients.

Recently, the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said that banks needed to do more to cater for the needs of smaller companies.

 

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