Since 2006 the ERA Foundation has conducted a number of studies under the general heading of “The Sustainability of the UK Economy in an Era of Declining Productive Capability”.

A consistent theme in their consultations has been the failure of the banks to engage effectively with SMEs, and the loss of confidence of many SMEs in the banks as sources of investment and working capital on other than punitive terms. This issue remains of sufficient concern that they look at the problem in more detail in this report, the sixth of the series. It concludes with a proposal for a Government sponsored Bank for Industry.