Why UK mid-sized businesses are prioritising specialist finance for their next phase of growth
The UK’s medium-sized businesses are increasingly considering specialist or alternative providers for their funding needs, with 71% looking to integrate working with these types of providers into their financial strategy.
Shawbrook’s new report, The M Agenda: The Medium-Sized Business Gap, finds that fewer than a fifth (19%) of mid-sized firms feel that their current provider truly understands their business, and only 22% believe their lender understands the market they operate in, highlighting this growing trend for specialist support.
The support medium-sized businesses are searching for
As businesses scale, their funding requirements naturally become more complex, and there are a number of factors medium-sized businesses are prioritising when it comes to searching for the right support.
Key needs are reported as greater personalisation (29%), more flexibility (27%), faster decision-making (27%) and dedicated sector expertise (25%) with the findings suggesting growing demand for relationship-led support and specialist expertise that can align more closely to evolving business needs.
Neil Rudge, chief banking officer at Shawbrook, said: “The UK lending landscape offers medium-sized businesses more choice than ever before, from sector-specialist lenders and flexible funding structures to relationship-led approaches designed to support growing firms.
As businesses grow in scale and complexity, they need partners who offer more than just capital – they need speed, deep sector expertise, and hands on support. There is a significant opportunity for brokers and finance partners to help firms better understand the breadth of funding solutions available and identify the right support at the right stage of growth.”