Lobby group’s Corporate Finance group is promoting a series of ‘Access to Alternative Finance Briefings’ to give advisers to opportunity to learn more about alternative forms of finance. Tony McDonough reports.

Liverpool professionals are looking to combat the “shocking’ trend of desperate small and medium-sized firms turning to credit cards to plug gaps in their cashflow.

Data published by Legal & General shows there is a rise in the number of SMEs borrowing through unsecure routes such as credit cards after being turned down by banks.

Only 3% of SMEs relied on credit cards in 2009, but that figure had increased significantly to 23% by 2014.

Now Professional Liverpool’s Corporate Finance group is promoting a series of ‘Access to Alternative Finance Briefings’ to give advisers to North West businesses the opportunity to learn more about alternative forms of finance.

Steve Stuart, board member for Professional Liverpool, said: “It’s shocking to see such a high percentage of SMEs turning to credit cards as a form of finance.

“Worryingly, this figure could rise even more if we don’t take action now and give businesses the full picture of the many forms of alternative forms of finance.”

The alternative finance industry was reported to be worth more than £3.2bn last year according to the Pushing Boundaries report by Nesta.

However, despite the growth of the industry it has been widely reported that 56% of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises remain in the dark about non-traditional funding methods available.

More than 80 business professionals from across the Liverpool city region gathered at the first briefing to hear from high profile industry speakers spanning major banks, fund managers and crowd-funding companies from across the UK as well as regional funding programmes.

Following the success of this event, Professional Liverpool’s Corporate Finance group has set up a series of future events on the same topic.

Upcoming events are scheduled for December 7, March 1, 2017 and June 7th, 2017.