Background
The 2011 research encompassed 15,000 telephone interviews amongst businesses with up to £25 million turnover, conducted between March and December 2011, and informs the current debate by publishing credible and robust data on businesses and their financing. The survey continues in 2012. It has also tracked progress against the range of initiatives announced in the Taskforce Report*.
The project is being led by Shiona Davies, Director at BDRC Continental. The first report was published in July 2011, with subsequent reports published in November 2011 and March 2012.
When the project was commissioned, Angela Knight, Chief Executive of the BBA said “The Business Finance Taskforce is a major initiative aimed at helping business access the finance it needs. We went through a rigorous selection process for a research company to provide the clear, impartial and authoritative data required, and were impressed by BDRC Continental’s knowledge of the issues facing SMEs in the UK, and their expertise in understanding how to research and report these topics. With SMEs representing more than 70% of the British economy, we are pleased to be working with a research provider that brings more than a decade’s research know-how to this important study.”
The Taskforce was set up following publication of the government's green paper, Financing a Private Sector Recovery, published on 26 July 2010.
The Taskforce was made up of the CEOs and senior representatives of the six largest UK banks: Barclays; HSBC; Lloyds Banking Group; Royal Bank of Scotland; Santander; and Standard Chartered.
* See http://www.bba.org.uk/taskforce for more information about the Taskforce.
