It’s been three years since local business funding broker Complete Commercial Finance launched its annual Business Survey, and this year Lynn News has partnered with the King’s Lynn company to lend its support and appeal to companies to share their views on the barriers to trade.

Complete Commercial Finance organised the first survey in 2020, during a year of disruption when lockdowns affected trade for many local firms, to assess companies’ confidence and use of finance. “The world was in a state of flux at the time,” explains Complete Commercial Finance’s director Karl Lanham, “and people would frequently ask us how other companies were doing out there.

“It felt like an anonymous survey would be a good way to take the pulse of the business community, without revealing commercially sensitive information, and we were surprised at how open and honest participating companies were in sharing their feelings about the impact of the pandemic on their operations.

“We were also interested to learn that so many established businesses are put off using finance because they don’t know where to find the right finance or think it will be too difficult or expensive to do so. In fact, the results were almost the same in the second year of the survey, which supports our belief that too many local companies are missing out on the benefits of considered and appropriate lending to support and grow their operations.

“The majority of business owners say they would probably speak to a bank to organise a loan or finance assets, yet in a post-Covid world most organisations don’t know who their bank manager is or who they can speak to, if they can navigate beyond an online chatbot, to discuss their business finance requirements.

“A broker such as ourselves can take the hassle out of organising funding and will know which lender is most likely to agree a facility to help a business reach its goal. They can organise the paperwork and often get the best terms because they know which lender is most suitable for each individual application. We are experts in what we do, and our knowledge is often invaluable in turning an on paper ‘no’ into a positive result. Talking about money isn’t easy for most people, but we provide a confidential and sympathetic ear which can achieve great things for many local businesses.”

Lynn News is this year lending its support to the Business Survey and encouraging more companies of all sizes to get involved in the short, nine-question, anonymous survey at surveymonkey.co.uk/r/2KV7QMW, which takes less than five minutes to complete.

“We are delighted to have Lynn News supporting the survey this year,” says Karl. “The impartiality and credibility of the Lynn News brand is so important to us and the survey results will provide useful information to gauge the temperature of local companies. By working with Lynn News, we hope that more people will take the time to engage and share their views – the newspaper is so well-established and well-recognised, it’s a champion of local people and that includes business owners. Together we want to create a stronger voice for local companies.”