Four in every five small and medium sized business in the farming sector say there are ways in which banks could 'better support them', according to a recent poll.
At a time when there is a question mark over agricultural aid as the exit negotiations with the EU get underway, this latest research sheds light on the SMEs' relationship with their banks.
The top concern cited was banks not having specialist knowledge of the agriculture sector.
Tracking opinions from over 1,000 SMEs from 15 different sectors over the past 18 months, a trend emerged suggesting that this was an issue for a steadily growing proportion of SMEs in the agriculture sector – rising from 26% in 2015, to 39% in 2017.
31% of agricultural small businesses wanted to see banks committing to the sector more generally, an issue that has seen a big leap in concern over the years.
Transparent fees were also high up the list.
'Square peg in a round hole'
While calls have increased for banks to have specific sector knowledge, there has been a drop in the number of SMEs complaining that banks are unwilling to lend.
While this remains an issue for one in five agriculture businesses (21%), there has been a gradual decline from 29% 8 months previously.
"These results highlight the fact that businesses in the agriculture sector can, at times, feel like a square peg in a round hole when it comes to financial services," said Gavin Wraith-Carter, managing director at Hitachi Capital Business Finance.
"If their specific needs are not being met and if the pressures they are under and challenges they face are not properly understood, the situation will become increasingly frustrating for them."
The research was conducted by YouGov among a nat.rep. sample of 1153 small and medium business owners and directors.
