More than 8,100 SMEs have been referred under the Alternative Business Funding (ABF), which means that less than 3 per cent of those rejected by the banks are finding funds elsewhere.

Small businesses are a driving force in the UK economy, and £3.8m that has been arranged on their behalf under the bank referral scheme so far. In the beginning, the £3.8m was spread across 230 small business loan applicants . That’s an average deal size of approximately £16.5k, which Alt Fi News suggest is the very smallest businesses that are most benefitting from the scheme.

Funding Circle – the UK’s largest peer-to-peer lender for small businesses – has lent nearly £800m in 2017 alone, according to AltFi Data.