I would be interested to know the opinions of the tradesman on here regarding the current bank bashing over small business lending. I had my own business for 30 years before recently retiring and never had any loan other than a small overdraft facility to cover cash flow. Any investment (and this was considerable as my business was in audio visual hire, and I had to keep up with advancing technology) was financed from earnings. Almost all business's that I have been involved with did the same, most of those who borrowed to invest went bust. I believe that bank loans are down because many small business's do not want to be committed to loans, and banks are concerned that those who ask for loans are more likely to be non-viable concerns.