ICAEW launches digital financial guide for start-ups and SMEs

The ICAEW has launched the British Finance Guide, which offers free advice on lending and investment for small businesses.

It also contains contributions from the British Business Bank and over 20 other bodies from the business and finance sectors.

Contents

The guide, which is available as a downloadable pdf or as a hard copy, offers advice on different sources of finance.

Businesses will have access to ideas, tools, and videos from experts to help them explore their options, make decisions, and examine what kinds of finance can enable their growth.

The guide comes as research from the British Business Bank showed that over half of smaller UK businesses only go to their main bank for finance and do not shop around.

Around half of those businesses may stop looking for finance if they are rejected for a bank loan, resulting in missed opportunities for expansion.

Awareness

Commenting on the British Business Bank’s involvement in the British Finance Guide, CEO Keith Morgan said: “A growing number of finance options have become more established, mainstream and accessible to smaller businesses over recent years, and building their awareness and understanding of those options is a key aim for the British Business Bank.”

He added that the bank views the guide as an “essential starting point” for businesses to find the finance that is most suitable for their needs and the plans to enable them to prosper.