The Nature of the Banking Relationship: A Comparison of the Experiences of Male and Female Small Business Ownersi

(CHRISTINE ENNEW AND SALLY MCKECHNIE are with the School of Management and Finance at the University of Nottingham, England, and at the time the paper was written Lauren Read was with the I)epartment of Geography, University of Southampton, England. The purpose of this paper is to shed new light on the issuie of whether banks treat female and mnale small buisiness owners differently, by explorinig the nature of the banking i-elationship from the perspective of two grotips of owner-managers differentiated only bv gender. Being able to identify similarities and differences in the needs anid inotivations of each gender, as well as develop a better understanding of how baniks are perceived, should then enable banks to identify ways in which they may serve their small business owners better. Following a review of the literature, which is predominantly North American- based, this paper goes on to report the findiings of two empirical studies conducted in the UK, which focus on financing conditions and aspects of the overall relationship between the small business an-d the bank manager. The findings suggest that gender based differences in both the provision of finance and the nature of the banking relationship are less substantial than mnight have been expected. There continues to be evidence that some business owners perceive greatei- difficulties in their dealings with theii- bank and perceive themselves as being- subject to discriminatorv behaviour but there is less evidence to suggest that this affects the terms and coniditionIs o)n xNsui h their businesses are finaniced.