Buy now while stocks last! (TT Dec04 p21-23)

Increased bank liquidity and an increase in the number of banks servicing the mid-market means greater competition for a limited pool of assets. The five major UK banks lent just £5.5bn in the worst year of the current economic slowdown, compared with £7bn of provisions during the worst year of the 1990s recession. Mid-market companies with leveraged balance sheets or inconsistent histories should look to the high-yield bond market to provide liquidity. Securitisation has become an increasingly popular financing tool – for example, in the football club sector.