Richard Roberts is Hon. Professor at Birmingham University Business School, UK. Prior to this, he researched small businesses issues at Barclays for 30 years. During this period, Professor Roberts was a member of the BIS/HMT Small Firms Advisory Panel and the BBA Business Finance Taskforce. As well as his current Professorship, Richard is consultant to a number of public and private bodies, including the Treasury Select Committee, and holds an MBE for services to UK Small and Medium-Sized Businesses.

• Preface Part I: Context 1. Defining Small and Entrepreneurial Business Finance 2. Why is Lending to - or Investing in - a Small Firm Difficult? 3. External Finance Products used by Small and Entrepreneurial Firms Part II: Product Review 4. Structured Debt: Term loans and commercial mortgages 5. Cash-Flow Products: Overdraft and business credit cards 6. Factoring and Invoice Discounting 7. Leasing 8. Equity Part III: A Longer Term View 9. The use of External Finance over time: Escalators and roller-coasters 10. Current and Future Trends in Finance for Small and Entrepreneurial Businesses Appendix I: Case Studies in External Finance Appendix II: International Data

'This book reflects the accumulated knowledge of someone who really knows about the nitty-gritty of small business finance from working for 30 years for Barclays Bank, whilst writing top quality academic papers and being a major influence on policy. Nobody knows more and I urge you read it.' - David Storey, Professor, School of Business Management and Economics, The University of Sussex, UK'A number of us have been waiting for this book for a long time. It provides a unique insight into SME finance. It is well written and makes an important contribution to the SME policy and research literature.' - Robin Jarvis, Special Adviser to Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Professor of Accounting, Brunel University, UK