By Alan Wright
Banks that refuse to increase their lending to help small businesses with cash flow could see their profits and bonuses taxed by an angry government.

It is estimated at least £50 billion of new money could be generated by the high street banks if they cut back on dividends to shareholders and limited bonuses for bosses.

UK Business Secretary Vince Cable has accused the banks of turning a deaf ear to the cries of small and medium sized firms who claim they are finding it hard to access finance despite the insistence of the banks that they were meeting 80 per cent of requests.

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The majority of small and medium sized firms could accelerate business growth by 400 per cent if they listened more to their customers and made better use of the feedback they get, indicates new research.

Academics from Kingston University found advice from customers has the biggest positive impact on UK small business growth yet almost half of companies miss out on this valuable insight.

The study also revealed that businesses which use consultants are 3.6 times more likely to have growth in their turnover compared to those that do not, while firms heeding advice from accountants are 2.6 times as likely to grow compared with those that don’t.

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