UK banks and, in particular those which have been partially privatised with government loans, have been coming under a lot of pressure over recent months from all sides with regard to their reluctance to offer business loans to small companies who are in serious need of finance in order to help the company.

Last week, the man behind the Apprentice and government adviser, Lord Alan Sugar, commented that many small companies only had themselves to blame for not being able to obtain a business loan from their bank, largely on the back of being offered easy loans in the past, thereby leading them to assume that they can still get a similar loan in today’s economic climate.

The Forum of Private Business (FPB) disagreed with Alan Sugar on a number of issues and has launched a free guide which is aimed to provide help to small businesses who are looking for a business loan from their bank. The guide, which is entitled “Get your bank manager to say YES!” is designed to offer help and support to small businesses in need of finance and to provide them with advice on how to go about presenting the best possible case to their bank, in order that they may stand a better chance of being accepted for the business loan they require.

According to the FPB, around 80 per cent of their members have commented that it has become much harder to obtain a loan from their bank over the course of the past twelve months and so the guide is the first in a series to be launched by the FPB to help small businesses survive the current economic conditions and to get the most out of the services available to them. A copy of the free guide is available to download via the FPB’s website.