Contractors and other small businesses are still having difficulty securing funding, according to one expert.

Ed Moss, spokesman for the company, said that owners of small businesses had come to take statements about lending from banks with a pinch of salt.

"The mistrust that has built up now is something that the banks seem to take for granted as having passed by, but it has not," said Mr Moss, of the relationship between the public and banks.

"Of course, they're too preoccupied with their bonuses to worry about how manufacturing is doing," he added.

This comes after the European Commission announced an EU-wide Small Business Act, with policies such as an action plan for improving the small and medium enterprises access to finance, which includes an access to venture capital markets in addition to targeted measure so investors know more about the benefits of small business.