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Northern Ireland SME Access to Finance Report

Devolved Nation project overview

The make-up of sub-national economies can vary significantly within a particular nation. Factors such as location (urban/rural/coastal), the background of business owners (gender, age and ethnicity), the local business base, the size/maturity of businesses, and the sectoral composition all have an impact. This project seeks to understand the extent to which these differing characteristics affect or influence attitudes towards the use of external finance amongst the SME population.

This report seeks to better understand the differences between sub-national access to finance economies, whilst simultaneously undertaking a devolved nations comparison. This is the third year the Bank has supported this project, having published a suite of nation specific sub-regional access to finance reports in 2024 and 2025. This research was completed in partnership with Enterprise Northern Ireland.

Northern Ireland findings

56% of Northern Irish SMEs reported using any finance
18% of smaller businesses in Northern Ireland reported experiencing barriers to accessing finance
69% of Northern Ireland-based smaller businesses perceived their cash flow as positive
42% anticipated requiring additional finance over the next year
53% of those requiring additional finance felt confident about securing it

Sub-national findings

SMEs based in the South were most likely to report using any finance (61%)
SMEs based in Belfast were most likely to report no barriers in relation to accessing finance, at a rate slightly above the national average (38%)
Of those reporting a negative cash flow position, smaller businesses in the North-East/East had the highest propensity to cite weak demand/sales pipeline (64%)
SMEs based in the North West were most likely to anticipate an additional financing requirement over the next year (60%)
Smaller businesses in the North West expected to grow in the year ahead at the highest rate (63%)

Devolved Nations comparison

Northern Ireland had the lowest overall proportion of smaller businesses using external finance (56%) compared to the other two Devolved Nations of the UK.
Northern Irish-based SMEs reported any barriers to finance in line with Wales (18% and 19% respectively), as opposed to Scotland (13%)
Northern Ireland-based smaller businesses had the lowest proportion of positive perceptions regarding their cash flow position (69% compared to 85% and 80% in Scotland and Wales respectively)
The proportion of SMEs in Northern Ireland that anticipated requiring additional financing over the next 12 months was the second highest (42%), 5 percentage points lower than Scotland (47%) but more than double the rate in Wales (17%).
Northern Ireland-based smaller businesses were the most optimistic about their growth prospects over the next 12 months (56%) relative to their counterparts in Scotland (49%) and Wales (30%)

To view the findings, tap below.

Northern Ireland SME Access to Finance Report 2025/2026

This report from British Business Bank and Enterprise Northern Ireland seeks to better understand the differences between sub-national access to finance economies, whilst simultaneously undertaking a devolved nations comparison.

Click Here to View.