Small firms attract record investmentFigures from the British Business Bank and Beauhurst show that investment in UK small businesses hit a record high last year, with equity investment up 9% to £8.8bn. SMEs continued to draw investment in Q1 2021, with £4.5bn raised in the first three months of the year. British Business Bank chief executive Catherine Lewis La Torre said that while the pandemic hit investment earlier in 2020, “there was this big boost in the latter half of the year as confidence started to return." The British Business Bank said it supported around 21% of all equity deals that were announced last year, up from 10% in 2019.