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Deloitte, which has 23 offices across the UK including Newcastle, is among the country's leading professional services firms » 
ClimateNE & Climate Change Schools Project support the move to a low-carbon, resilient economy and help businesses avoid risk and realise commercial opportunities. Posts by Jen Atkinson, Krista McKinzey and Harriet Thew » The banking sector was thrust firmly into the spotlight last week as the 'big four' announced bumper profits in a return to health after the financial crisis.
The encouraging news from HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds and Barclays has boosted hopes that the pain of 2008 is over and that the taxpayer could make a profitable exit from the Government's bank bail-outs.
But while banking chiefs have got their balance sheets in better order, small businesses are still struggling to get loans at affordable rates.
The credit crunch that has strangled businesses since Northern Rock fell into difficulty in the autumn of 2007 shows no sign of going away any time soon.
New lending to small firms is down by around a third on 2008 figures, according to the British Bankers' Association (BBA), which maintains that banks have continued to lend to viable companies with a strong business plan.
Companies, however, are telling a different story.
Teesside bosses have complained that their overdraft facilities have been cut and interest rates on loans hiked up without warning.
Some have had to fund expansion through private equity and increased revenue generation because banks have been unwilling to back them.
It will take more than fighting talk from the Government to appease those who have been affected.
Chancellor George Osborne waded into the debate last week, claiming banks have an "economic obligation" to lend to businesses.
Business Secretary Vince Cable has also pledged to get tough on banks that choose to hoard profits or pay bumper bonuses to staff, rather then boost corporate lending.
But those words ring hollow when, in the next breath, they are telling banks to hold more capital and repair their balance sheets.
How can they lend more when the Government is ordering them to bolster their cash reserves?
This paradox has pinned banks uncomfortably between a rock and a hard place - but businesses are feeling most of the pain.
It is right that banks should get their house in order; nobody wants a return to the bad old days of 2008, when financial systems around the world came to the brink of collapse.
But once they have achieved that, they must start lending to small and medium-sized firms - the lifeblood of Britain's economy.
The big four banks should be subject to a minimum corporate lending requirement based on profit levels to ensure Britain's economic recovery is not choked off.
Higher-than-expected growth of 1.1% in the second quarter is unlikely to be repeated if the funds needed to fuel future expansion are not made available now.
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