Use of external finance overall has fallen
38%
of smaller businesses used external finance in the year to Q2 2022, down seven percentage points from 45% in 2021
Core debt products
remain the most used and widely available across the UK’s nations and regions
Equity finance fuels growth across the UK
Equity investment value increased
for every region and nation outside London except the West Midlands in 2021
Q2 equity investment held up
for both number of deals and investment value despite global economic conditions
88%
increase in value of seed stage equity investment outside of London
London’s dominance remains
1,286 equity deals worth £11.9bn took place in London in 2021, representing 66% of investment and 49% of deals in the UK
Investment in net zero sectors growing faster than overall equity market
£6.9bn
of equity investment has gone into net zero-aligned UK smaller businesses across 1,307 deals since 2011
£2.7bn
invested across 165 deals in smaller businesses in net zero sectors in H1 2022
69%
of deals and 67% of net zero-related equity investment took place outside London between 2011 and H1 2022
New net zero clusters
potentially forming around net zero equity investment in six regions and nations including Warwickshire, Sheffield, Cheshire East, Glasgow, Oxfordshire and Bristol
Businesses in the most deprived areas show greater ambition for growth
49%
of businesses in the UK’s most deprived areas have an ambition to be significantly larger, compared to 40% elsewhere
36%
of businesses in most deprived areas are willing to use external finance to grow, although 16% that applied were turned down, higher than elsewhere
British Business Bank improving access-to-finance conditions for businesses in the UK’s most deprived areas
£540m
Invested by the British Business Bank’s regional funds since launch
£1.6bn
commitment to early stage finance through six new Nations and Regions Investment Funds