Access to Finance and Growth of Innovative SMEs after Brexit

This paper offers a new perspective on the link between the literature on firms’ investment decisions during period of uncertainty and the literature on access to finance for innovative Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). In particular, it provides nuanced evidence on innovative SMEs’ expectations of access to debt finance and growth after Brexit. By using a unique survey, we find that innovative SMEs expect to be more financially constrained.Furthermore, the results show that innovative SMEs have not only changed their strategies by cutting their employment, but also expect lower growth. Finally, the findings suggests that there is a spatial bias in the financial system: innovative firms outside London in fact expect to be more financially constrained and to grow less in response to Brexit.