There has been much talk  about the dearth of traditional bank loans to SMEs since the credit crunch, with the conventional narrative increasingly detached from reality as market confidence and conditions improve. But this jaded dialogue has disguised another issue: the rapid and seemingly unrelenting decline of the small business overdraft.

 

 

 

In fact, a survey published today and carried out by Funding Options shows that 30 per cent of small firms have had their overdraft reduced or removed in the last two years, echoed in Bank of England statistics showing SME overdrafts currently falling at a rate of more than £5m per day. Imagine an enormous vacuum sucking vital working capital out of the small business community, and you’re pretty much there.