Freelancers optimistic that finance will be available

39% of the UK's most successful entrepreneurs said they expect it to be "normal" or "easy" to acquire capital from external sources in the coming year. Six months ago, only 25% expressed this level of optimism. However, that still leaves 60% saying it will be "quite hard" or "very hard" to obtain external funding.

Ed Cottrell, an Investec spokesman, said the research suggests that a lot of UK entrepreneurs are optimistic about their prospects, but this optimism could be in jeopardy if capital is unavailable.

He went on to say that Investec is proactively hoping to make funds available to medium-sized businesses who want to raise between £5 million and £50 million to support acquisitive or organic growth.

The survey also showed that successful entrepreneurs will look to a variety of sources to secure funding in the next 12 months. 59% expect to use a bank overdraft or loan, 35% will turn to private equity or venture capital and 24% will use asset based lending or invoice discounting.

26% of the companies surveyed said they intended to seek at least £10 million in capital over the coming 12 months, whilst 22% said they had no intentions of raising capital from external sources.

© 2011 All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
Image: £20 Holograms by austinevan