We’re now half a decade on from the first lockdowns, but the effects of Covid are still rippling through the business finance market. Some are obvious – higher borrowing costs, more cautious banks, and businesses still carrying the weight of government-backed loans. But one of the less talked about changes is how Covid shifted the way businesses and funders build relationships.
When everything moved online, from loan applications to lender decisions, many business owners realised just how much they’d relied on the human side of finance.
For some, that shift hasn’t been positive. Decisions are quicker, but they can also feel faceless. It’s why, even in 2025, the businesses we work with still tell us the same thing – they want technology for speed, but people for trust.
Why digital couldn’t do it all
Covid highlighted just how much funding is about context, not just numbers. Online forms can capture turnover, balance sheets, and bank statements, but they can’t capture the story of a business. They don’t show that a recruitment firm has invoices due that will clear in two weeks. They don’t explain why a manufacturer’s raw material costs have spiked this quarter but are already stabilising. They don’t reflect that a business owner has 20 years of trading behind them and has always paid suppliers on time.
During Covid, we heard from business owners who had their online applications rejected without explanation. For many, it was “computer says no” at the worst possible time. That’s when relationships mattered – brokers like us picked up the phone, listened to the full story, and went out to lenders who understood the bigger picture.
I’ll never forget the first face-to-face meeting I had again after restrictions lifted. It wasn’t a big deal – just sitting across a table with a client and talking through their funding needs. But the relief on their face said it all. They’d spent months trying to explain their situation through portals and generic helplines. One conversation in person did more in an hour than six weeks of online applications.
Business finance is about trust – you don’t build trust with a password and a drop-down menu, you build it by being present, listening properly, and showing you understand the pressures on the other side of the table.
The way forward
Fast forward to today, and the landscape has changed permanently. Businesses are comfortable with digital tools – they like the speed and convenience of online forms, document uploads, and quick approvals. But they don’t want to be left to navigate it alone.
What they want is a hybrid – all the efficiency of digital to get documents in and processes moving, with the reassurance of personal advice when decisions matter.
One of the big lessons of Covid was not to put all your eggs in one basket, many businesses that had always gone to their high street bank suddenly found the door closed. The bank either wasn’t lending in their sector, or the criteria were too rigid. Independent brokers proved their worth because we weren’t tied to one lender. We had the freedom to look across the market and find someone who understood the situation.
That independence combined with a human conversation was what kept businesses afloat when the digital-only route wasn’t enough.
Covid accelerated the use of technology in finance by ten years in about ten months, and that’s not going away, and nor should it. But the businesses that come to us today still value the same things they always did. Speed and flexibility when cash is tight. Straightforward advice without jargon. Someone they trust to fight their corner.
That’s not something you can automate. It’s built face to face, whether that’s across a desk, at a client’s site, or even over a coffee.
If Covid taught us anything, it’s that finance isn’t just about money – it’s about people. Businesses don’t just need a loan or a facility, they need someone to listen, to understand the bigger picture, and to find the right solution.
That’s why, in a world that’s increasingly digital, face to face still matters.
