It’s hard to assess the full impact of direct lending funds on the UK’s businesses because data collection in this segment is sparse. But there are two things we can say about direct lenders’ relationship with growing companies. One is that the volume of direct lending to SMEs is growing. The number of companies taking loans and the value of private debt deals have been increasing – albeit with a drop in recent years – data from the British Business Bank below shows. As banks retreated from lending to small businesses after the financial crisis, yield-hungry private… continue reading