The Manufacturing Agenda
What are the main reasons your business has faced challenges in accessing funding?
What are lenders’/investors’ main barriers to deploying new capital into manufacturing businesses?
Implications for boards These findings highlight a clear contrast between the issues occupying boardrooms and the indicators lenders use to track performance. By prioritising structural risks over financial risks, manufacturing boards are grappling with more complex challenges as they work to build businesses with enduring value. Lenders and investors, meanwhile, tend to prioritise liquidity and capital preservation, in a bid to underpin short-term resilience. As a result, understanding how these perspectives align has become increasingly important. Many manufacturers are navigating a complex mix of structural pressures and operational risks, and this divergence in focus can create gaps in communication or expectations. Advisers who understand both sides of this landscape can help bridge these viewpoints, ensuring that board decisions are grounded in a clear understanding of lender priorities and that stakeholders remain aligned as conditions evolve.
Lenders tightening credit appetite in the sector
Sector-specific risks (e.g. energy intensity, ESG requirements)
31%
30%
Business performance concerns (e.g. profitability, cashflow volatility) HMRC-related issues (e.g. tax arrears, time-to- pay arrangements etc.) Reduced government support/challenges refinancing Covid schemes Increased cost of borrowing (interest rates, fees, covenants)
Valuation expectations of owners/management
30%
29%
Regulatory or policy uncertainty (e.g. trade, subsidies, taxation)
25%
28%
Availability and quality of management teams
27%
22%
Macroeconomic uncertainty (e.g. inflation, demand volatility)
27%
21%
Limited pipeline of attractive opportunities
Insufficient collateral or security available
19%
25%
ESG, compliance or regulatory hurdles
Internal capital allocation priorities
24%
19%
Poor data quality and reporting standards
19%
*Respondents were asked to select up to three.
20
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online