Peter,

I'm glad to hear that average workers in your part of the world have £500 a month spare. Down in sunny south Devon the average salary is £14k and the average house is £200k! Three pubs/restaurants have closed in our town in the last 6 months so things ain't easy.

From a business standpoint we're cautiously optimistic and to help customers we're spreading maintenance/repairs out over a few months e.g. tyres now, brakes March, cam belt May etc. This avoids them getting into debt with credit cards and so on - which they appreciate.

Back to the issue of the banks and business finance, I would say - from experience - that you should shop around. Attitudes vary tremendously from one bank (or even branch) to the next.

Keep smiling,
Richard