This thesis is a collection of four empirical essays. The essays are linked by their concern with a particular topic in the financing of smaller businesses – viz. small firms and their banks. The first essay discusses the pricing of the bank loan for growing SMEs. The second essay examines the role of financial advice to small firms in alleviating credit constraints. The third essay explores patterns of SMEs’ discouragement towards borrowing in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis. The final empirical essay introduces a novel concept (“informal turndown”) designed to further illuminate contemporary discussions of discouraged borrowing amongst SMEs and empirically compares the profile of firms who discouragement stems from informal talks with their banks with those that feared rejection. These empirical essays draw on two UK datasets: UK survey of SME Finance (2007) and UK SME Finance Monitor (2011-2016).