SMEs need working capital sooner; leniency from Big Guys – Brendan Mullen

Small and medium business are in a particular squeeze right now as the quantitative easing measures from Government are not filtering down to them fast enough. In the United Kingdom, it is estimated that the economic impact of the coronavirus could lead to one in five SMEs running out of cash. In South Africa, Brendan Mullen from Secha Capital, whose biggest business is Stoffelberg Biltong, is an investment professional who has experienced the fall-out from the credit crunch in 2009. He says this time round the "war" as he calls it is not a Top Down one in the previous crisis; it is a Bottom Up War as the real victims are the SMEs. He told Alec Hogg that there should be a public-private partnership where credit lines can be extended quicker to keep the economy moving. The large supermarkets, he said should be more lenient with the smaller suppliers on payment terms. – Linda van Tilburg

Brendan Mullen joins us now. He's from Secha Capital, an impact investing firm. Brendan your biggest business is a company called Stoffelberg Biltong or your biggest operating business. Now this is an interesting situation because we've heard before in the programme today about the township economy and the informal economy and how they've been hit by the lockdown but in, I guess, more formal businesses, but still small businesses, the impact here has also been pretty difficult and it's primarily on working capital. Just take us through what's been going on at Stoffelberg.

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