A year since Chancellor George Osbourne told our small businesses that it was down to them to help Britain through the economic recovery and promised them easier access to funding – we’ve been trying to find out if our local employers and entrepreneurs really have found it easier to grow.

In October 2010, the Government promised to expand the range of support available to local businesses, with the idea that their growth would mean less people in the job centre and more people paying tax. But, with statistics last week revealing unemployment has reached its highest level in 17 years and one third of small business ventures failing within their first three years, it appears this vision was not entirely realistic.

44% of start-ups admit to having run out of cash or come close, so it looks like challenges with funding are still rife. But although staying afloat is an ongoing struggle for many and the majority of banks are expected to fall short of their lending targets this year, we want to find out if the nations’ local entrepreneurs are missing a trick when it comes to finding financial support, or if the picture really hasn’t changed one year on.