Northern Ireland SME Access to Finance Report

Devolved Nation project overview

The make-up of sub-national economies can vary significantly within a particular nation. Factors such as location (urban/ rural/coastal), the background of business owners (gender, age and ethnicity), the local business base, the size/maturity of businesses, and the sectoral make up all have a part to play. This project seeks to understand the extent to which these differing characteristics affect or influence attitudes towards the use of external finance amongst the SME population.

This report seeks to better understand the differences between sub-national access to finance economies, whilst simultaneously undertaking a devolved nations comparison. This is the second year the Bank has supported this project, after publishing a first suite of nation specific sub-regional access to finance reports in 2024. This research was completed in partnership with Enterprise Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland Findings

• 57% of Northern Irish SMEs reported using finance
• 48% requiring additional financing over the next year
• 61% requiring finance felt confident about securing it

Sub-national findings

• SMEs based in the North East/East and the South were least likely to report using finance (53%)
• Businesses based in Mid Ulster and the North West were most inclined to be confident about securing finance over the next year with 73% and 70% respectively, those located in Belfast were the least confident (60%)

Devolved Nations comparison

• A much higher share of SMEs in Northern Ireland that had a finance need over the next year required amounts at or below £50k (74%) than in Scotland (63%) and in Wales (64%)
• Northern Irish businesses that experienced barriers to finance were more likely to mention lack of awareness or availability of finance options and support (27%), than their counterparts in Scotland (17%) and in Wales (13%)