Professor Dylan Jones-Evans, who recently undertook a government-sanctioned review of ‘access to finance’ in Wales, has argued there is greater scope for professional advice.
Reflecting on research conducted by UK firm Bibby Financial Services, which found only 18 per cent of small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) seek out guidance from financial advisers – followed by 14 per cent for accountants – Professor Jones-Evans said in an article for Wales Online that “this is a wake-up call for those advsiers supporting businesses”.
“More needs to be done to ensure that SMEs are linked in directly to the high-quality advice that the professional services businesses, both large and small, can provide to the business community,” he wrote.
The professor has called for the establishment of a development bank in Wales to work with advisers, accountants and lawyers providing services to SMEs in the region.
Everyone should have access to better financial advice – that is true. But so should everyone have access to a bunch of other things.
The trick is to find the things that are most pressing, and I am not sure that financial advice is the most pressing given the free on-line tools and advice available from places like http://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk, which.com and http://www.getguidance.com