Manufacturing firms have seen an improvement in credit conditions in recent months, new research has shown.
A survey of more than 200 companies by manufacturing organisation the EEF showed an increase in the number reporting availability of new lines of borrowing.
Fewer firms reported increased costs of new borrowing, although the study also revealed that demand for external finance is set to increase.
Lee Hopley, chief economist at the EEF, said: "We've seen a few quarters of modest improvement in lending which is encouraging. With companies, on balance, expecting their demand for external finance to increase next year, progress on increasing the flow of credit and getting the cost down has to be sustained and built upon going forward.
"We are yet to see the details of the new Business Bank but what it must do is start to provide a long-term solution to the underlying problem of a lack of competition in small and medium-sized enterprise banking."
