Beyond Now: Access to funding – the key to improving productivity?

To boost productivity, businesses need access to capital. However, a return to higher interest rates and other factors make accessing the funding required to invest in efficiency-enhancing areas challenging.

To address this, we brought together leading experts from a bank, growth fund, government think tank, the London Stock Exchange, and Grant Thornton for a live-streamed panel discussion at innovation centre STEAMhouse in Birmingham. The discussion was hosted by Global Financial Commentator and former BBC Business presenter Susannah Streeter.

Watch the key highlights

Catch up on the panel session

Watch the full recording for more detailed insight on:

• how the economic outlook and market trends are impacting the availability of capital for businesses
• the key factors in positioning a business to attract investment now and in the longer term – from ESG factors to their use of AI
• what businesses considering a public listing need to know
• the government support that is available to businesses and upcoming announcements that may impact access to funding.

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Schellion Horn, Partner, Head of Economic Consulting at Grant Thornton UK

There is funding available for businesses that can position themselves to access it. For example, our 2024 ESG lending survey showed that firms who have a good ESG plan in place, or at least an understanding of ESG, not only gained better access to funding but also at better rates.

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Tom Pope, Deputy Chief Economist for the Institute for Government

2025 is a pivotal year for the UK Government’s economic strategy. I think the best thing that it can do for businesses is to now deliver on its commitment to stability - and then take a step back to let businesses plan with confidence.

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Nick Holder, Investor at the Business Growth Fund

You need to be able to articulate your customer value proposition. Hold it core to everything that you do throughout the business positioning - understand where you sit within your competitive landscape, how you compete, and how you will remain valid within that market environment.

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Deepak Parekh, Senior Director at Shawbrook Bank

There's not a single business we've looked at in the last 18 months where AI hasn't been mentioned. Being able to articulate how that technology is going to be leveraged in a positive way - is it going to bring in efficiencies, or widen your reach to market - is going to help lenders in their assessment.

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Tim Davis, Regional Head of UK Primary Markets at the London Stock Exchange

You know everything about your business - both the good and the bad. If you're thinking of raising money, equity or debt, think about if it were you potentially investing in your business, how would you see the pitch? What would you like about it? What wouldn't you like about it? And then adapt accordingly.

_{*The Business Outlook Tracker, December 2024}