Small business lending drops

The Government's Enterprise Finance Guarantee Scheme was supposed to make £1.3bn available, offering a 75% state guarantee to encourage banks to lend, reports the Mail. But in an answer to a Freedom of Information Request tabled by new British bank Aldermore, the Department for Business said lending dropped from £186m in the first quarter to £149m in the second quarter. Lending under the scheme has now fallen by 59% in the last year from £254m in the first quarter of 2009. Last week, it emerged the head of Barclays' small business division rejected Government plans to set targets f...