British Business Bank's Small Business Finance Markets 2021/22 report highlights a surge in equity investment into smaller UK businesses last year. £14bn was invested over the first three quarters of 2021, a 130% increase on the £6.1bn invested over the first three quarters of 20201. With one quarter still to go, investment has already exceeded the £8.7bn invested in the whole of 2020. At the same time, the report shows that bank lending has returned to close to pre-pandemic levels, with 2021 lending down 45% from 2020, driven by lower drawdowns of government-supported loans.