borro says that although it’s encouraging to see SME lending is on the radar for policymakers, with the Business Bank on the horizon, there is still far to go.

The Bank of England earlier today published its latest report, stating that lending to businesses fell by £4bn in the three months to November 2012.

Paul Aitken, CEO of borro, said: “This is bleak news for SME owners, particularly following the Business Minister’s grim admission last week, that, so far there is little evidence to show the ‘Funding for Lending scheme’ is working.

“It would seem that UK businesses, which should be seen as the beating heart of the UK economy, will remain caught in a credit drought for the time being.”

Aitken added that millions of small businesses still have no confidence in the banks and have already turned to alternative forms of financing.

He said: “If we are going to encourage small and medium sized businesses to grow, the Government needs to pull out all the stops.

“Our online personal asset-lending model has thrived since borro was set up four years ago, and more than 60% of our current client database is made up of small business owners looking for a route to obtaining the finance they need.”