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Following on from Andy Coyne’s ‘In Focus’ piece a few weeks ago around the ongoing theme of access to finance, my view is that there is a give-and-take required by SMEs and the banks but this should extend further to include accountants, business advisors and others in the wider professional community. And this should also include including central and local government along with the newly formed local enterprise partnerships.

My experience in working both for a commercial lender as well in professional services has shown that all sides do indeed want to work together. Bankers, however vilified they may be in the press, want to lend - especially those who are close to a particular community or industry sector.

Relationship managers have lending targets to hit and want to ensure whatever funding package is put together works for the long-term viability of the SME. They, along with the professional services community, are in a position to support businesses looking to expand internationally and are well-placed to offer their experience and scale in supporting the aspirations of SMEs which in turn helps the region as a whole.

SMEs must have ‘clarity of purpose’ in what they want for their business. The days of having an unsecured overdraft supporting operational cash flow do not exist anymore. SMEs have to ruthlessly manage every aspect of their business and be able to back this up through integrated reports and business projections which are ‘sensitised’ to take account of different scenarios that could impact the numbers.

For example, how robust are accounts payable chased? How does the company look to fix any variable and, potentially, volatile costs in the business such as diesel, cotton or other raw materials needed for production? If the SME has a supplier paid in US dollars or euros, how are they managing issues around potential currency fluctuations? Do they have the best systems in place to support paying suppliers without impacting the quality and delivery of their end product?

These are all issues which banks and the professional services community are well-placed to support SMEs in tackling. It’s encouraging to see the Coventry/Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership addressing this issue by forming a finance group with representation from a number of banks. But it’s not just about setting up a group, there needs to be leadership from bodies such as the new LEPs to set key outcomes for what they want their regions to be - whether that is supporting the automotive sector, sustainability or creative industries.

Only when these outcomes are set will SMEs have an understanding of how they need to make themselves more attractive to possible lenders while the banks will have a story to tell their credit committees as to why a particular SME has what it takes to support any funding provided at a sensible level of return for the lender.

But as mentioned at the start, it’s not just up to the banks alone in supporting entrepreneurial growth within SMEs. Central and local government, along with professional advisors, must continue to develop and support policies which will empower SMEs to grow and thrive. Developments such as the Localism Bill and the reintroduction of enterprise zones should encourage everyone to be bold in coming up with creative ways of assisting SMEs in the region. The technical knowledge, experience and desire exists - the challenge is to get everyone working together collaboratively to make it happen.

Tracey Davenport is a senior manager in the public sector team at KPMG in the Midlands.