Small business lending is showing sign of recovery as they have reached a two year high, according to the latest Bank of England figures.

The figures show that lending to small businesses rose by £238m between May and June of this year, the biggest rise since 2011.

Since 2009 lending to both small and large businesses has been falling, but the figures show promise that the trend is reversing, as small and medium sized businesses were shown to have borrow £170.4bn in June alone.

“The rise fuels hopes that banks are now becoming more prepared to lend to small businesses,” said Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at HIS Global Insight.

The Bank of England warned against reading too much into the figures, but said that the rise was “obviously welcome”.

Howard Archer also outlined reasons as to why the rise in lending may have occurred, outlining how the government’s Funding for Lending Scheme may now be helping small businesses more than previously.

“The Funding for Lending Scheme could be starting to have more of a positive impact,” he said.

The scheme lets banks borrow money cheaply from the Bank of England on the condition that they then lend it on to businesses and individuals. Incentives that were brought in in April also meant that lending to small businesses is more appealing to banks.