Nearly half (45%) of small business owners said that greater flexibility was one of the main advantages of asset finance over traditional banking in a study by UK short term loan provider Amicus Finance.

The study, conducted by market research company Consumer Intelligence on behalf of Amicus in April, asked 422 small business owners a number of questions regarding their experience with alternative lenders and banks.

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37% of respondents said that alternative lenders offered them a greater ability to lend, while a quarter (25%) believed that alternative lenders outscored banks on customer service.

The research found that a third (32%) of small business owners had lost out on a deal or investment opportunity because their bank was unwilling to service their borrowing requirements. Amicus extrapolated this to say that amounted to approximately 720,000 small business owners

In addition, it revealed that 42% small businesses have considered using alternative finance over the past five years with the most popular types including crowdsourcing, invoice finance/factoring, commercial mortgages and asset finance.

John Jenkins, chief executive officer at Amicus said: "When it comes to servicing the needs of small businesses, alternative lenders are outscoring the banks in many crucial areas such as flexibility, quality of customer service and speed.

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"Many small firms tell us that speed of execution can make all the difference when there’s an opportunity on the table that needs a quick turnaround. Given the challenges faced by banks in recent years, it’s little surprise that many small business owners feel they’ve have missed out on exciting deals and growth opportunities due to a lack of support."