According to recent research, UK citizens and businesses alike are finding it harder and harder to obtain credit from lending facilities and fear that the worst is not over yet.
Companies trying to obtain finance found that banks had a negative attitude to lending towards the end of the last year, which decreased the cash flow within their business, putting them in a very awkward position.
Some businesses closed down, some companies carried on, hoping the credit crunch blizzard would pass soon enough and they had themselves covered, while some are still trying to gain finance to keep their businesses afloat.
It seems that banks are putting their own needs first, before businesses and the public, even though the bail outs throughout this year, and this year, have been government, or even taxpayer’s money. In an effort to save their balance sheets and put them on the straight and narrow, banks are slowly phasing out the high risk individuals and businesses focusing on the loans they feel have the highest percentage of guarantee attached to them.
The survey also suggests that most companies or individuals expect the crisis to get worse, as banks continue to tighten their criteria throughout 2009.