Commissioned by the London Development Agency
The purpose of this study was to establish the type, size and scope of funding needed by London's SMEs and particularly the scale and type of provision required to assist those SMEs having difficulties accessing finance. As well as assessing the demand for finance and evidence of market failures, the study focused on the experiences of the various venture capital and loan schemes that had been funded under the 2000-06 ERDF London programme and considered the case for extending or changing these schemes for the 2007-13 ERDF programme.
On the demand side, the research involved an analysis of the data in the London Annual Business Survey relating to; problems in accessing finance, consultations with a sample of businesses experiencing difficulties in accessing finance, and consultations with other stakeholders such as accountants and enterprise agency managers. On the supply side, interviews were held with venture capital loan fund managers, venture capital organisations, bankers, and CDFIs. The study concludes with estimating the amount and types of funding needed to satisfy SME needs up to 2015, and considers various options for implementation.
Please contact CEEDR for details on this project
