Bank reform 'must address access to finance'

The Engineering Employers Federation (EEF) has called on the government to ensure that it takes advantage of any structural reform of banks to prioritise matters such as access to finance for business.

Indeed, chief economist for the British Chambers of Commerce David Kern has urged the coalition to create a business bank in order to address this kind of issue.

Chief economist for the EEF Lee Hopley advised a degree of caution, underlining the fact that the problems should be clearly identified before any problems are rushed into.

She said that the most pressing concerns should focus on how expensive it can be for businesses to borrow money.

"Proposed solutions need to be examined for how they measure up," Ms Hopley remarked.

She added "we need to be careful before assuming there is any one solution that will quickly produce a radically improved situation for SMEs" throughout the UK.