Alan Sugar is to relay small business concerns over a lack of bank lending to ministers, despite having called them “moaners” over the issue only five months ago.
The Enterprise Tsar is heading a task force whose remit is to ensure small businesses are treated “fairly and properly” when trying to borrow from banks. Lord Mandelson ultimately wants to set up an ombudsman, called the Small Business Credit Adjudicator (SBCA), shortly after the election.
The move has enraged many business leaders given that back in November Lord Sugar described many struggling companies as "moaners" living in "Disney World". John Wright, former chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, called upon Sugar to resign from his advisory role to the government, after he told a business audience that “a lot of problems you hear from people who are moaning are from companies I wouldn't lend a penny to.
“They are bust. The moaners are bust. They are bust and they don't need the bank – they need an insolvency practitioner.
“I would look at you right in the eyes and tell you out of 100 complaints, on investigation I would say 15 of them had something to moan about.”
Richard Lambert, CBI director general, has called Lord Mandelson’s plan for a new financial ombudsman as "dotty", adding "it will never see the light of day, is quite unworkable and pure political rhetoric."
Lord Mandelson retorted that Lambert was "speaking for the bullying banks" and betraying thousands of SMEs "that are being treated bloodily by the banks and are, in many cases, at risk of being pushed over the brink."
The case for Mandelson’s move has been undermined by recent data suggesting that the borrowing crisis has eased. Most companies are now able to borrow more cheaply than two years ago, figures have shown.
