Results for the Northern Ireland access to finance survey 2007 and 2010 were published on 28 October 2011. The percentage of businesses applying for finance from any source remained relatively constant over the period 2007-2010 with 38 per cent of small and medium sized enterprises applying for finance in 2007 and 39 per cent in 2010.
Overview
The Northern Ireland access to finance survey is part of an EU wide survey of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) – defined as businesses with 10-249 employees, designed to assess businesses’ experiences of accessing finance from a range of sources in the period 2007-2010.
It also covers their need for finance and expectations regarding growth over the next three years. The survey covers most key sectors but excludes the financial and insurance sector as per the EU regulation.
The NI survey also uniquely included a separate module on the micro business population (less than 10 employees).