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The purpose of this paper is to investigate how entrepreneurs demand for external finance changed as the economy continued to be mired in its third and fourth years of the global financial crisis (GFC) and whether or not external finance has become more difficult to access as the recession progressed.

Using a large-scale survey data on over 30,000 UK small- and medium-sized enterprises between July 2011 and March 2013, the authors estimate a series of conditional probit models to empirically test the determinants of the supply of, and demand for external finance.

Older firms and those with a higher risk rating, and a record of financial delinquency, were more likely to have a demand for external finance. The opposite was true for women-led businesses and firms with positive profits. In general finance was more readily available to older firms post-GFC, but banks were very unwilling to advance money to firms with a high-risk rating or a record of any financial delinquency. It is estimated that a maximum of 42,000 smaller firms were denied credit, which was significantly lower than the peak of 119,000 during the financial crisis.

This paper provides timely evidence that adds to the general understanding of what really happens in the market for small business financing three to five years into an economic downturn and in the early post-GFC period, from both a demand and supply perspective. This will enable the authors to consider what the potential impacts of credit rationing on the small business sector are and also identify areas where government action might be appropriate.

This paper reports on a descriptive study using locally available health and social care data relating to the patient journey of a cohort of frail, older people with complex health and social care needs. The study identifies contact with social care services and some health services prior to hospital admission, charts the patient journey in hospital, and provides information on discharge destinations. The findings have implications for the discharge planning process and the improvement of community care services, including intermediate care.

This article reports on the experiences and outcomes of a demonstrator project in Fife aimed at improving intermediate care services. The project focused on three strands: workforce development, extended access and pharmacy. The outcomes provide valuable information to guide future developments in intermediate care services.

This paper aims to describe the implementation of self‐directed support (SDS) in transitions for disabled children and young people moving from children's to adult services; it also seeks to describe the use of realistic evaluation as an approach to evaluation of this particular policy implementation.

A participatory stakeholder approach utilising realistic evaluation as an approach to policy evaluation was integral to guiding the implementation strategy of the SDS in transitions pilot in Anyshire Council (anonymised name).

Learning from the early implementation of the pilot is described. Realistic evaluation was found to be a useful approach to the implementation of a complex policy initiative.

The involvement of disabled children and young people in the strategic development of SDS has proved challenging.

This is the first evaluation of the implementation of self‐directed support in transitions that uses realistic evaluation as an approach.

This paper aims to summarise the literature on self‐directed support (SDS) in transitions for disabled children and young people moving from children's to adult services.

The literature on SDS and transitions is reviewed. This paper will explore the contribution of research in shaping the implementation of SDS in transitions.

SDS has the potential to encourage creativity at an individual and organisational level that can result in integrated service improvement.

This is the first comprehensive review of research on SDS in Scotland.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a picture of the maintenance management status in a sample of Moroccan industries through highlighting the most impacting factors. A preliminary framework of a maintenance management model is proposed on the basis of the study findings.

A mixed methods research (MMR), including qualitative and quantitative independent studies, was conducted in a sample of Moroccan industries. The process of collecting data involved submission of questionnaires to industrial managers and on-site visits. Analyzing case studies and correlations between maintenance factors were used to define the status of maintenance management. The preliminary framework of a maintenance management model was presented through a basic graph.

The surveyed companies have three levels of maintenance management: inner, medium and good. The most impacting maintenance factors include the top management policy and maintenance department approach. Most of the companies surveyed do not have an overall maintenance model, as most of decisions are based on random factors rather than the data analysis approach. The preliminary framework of maintenance management model involves the main factors with recommendations to improve maintenance management performance.

The sample in this study is limited to seven companies in the qualitative study and thirty-one companies in the quantitative study. The informants are the industrial managers of those companies. In order to apply this maintenance model in industry, an advanced version of this model is to be developed through providing key performance indicators (KPI) and an implementation process for each factor, including other participants in the companies from top management and operational levels.

The study may contribute to assess maintenance management and to develop a framework of maintenance management models in industries, especially when no previous basic study was conducted in a specific context.

The original contribution of this paper is using MMR to develop a preliminary framework of a maintenance management model. This methodology aims to narrow the gap between academic studies and maintenance management in industries.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate human behaviour during fire evacuations in multi-storey residential buildings through a focus on the challenges and obstacles that occupants face. In addition, the paper aims to study all the various behaviours that are relevant to the evacuation strategies/plans in the UK of multi-storey buildings in large cities.

A literature review was conducted to identify the factors occupants face and also the decision making of occupants regarding the methods of egress. A mixed methods research was adopted using interviews and a questionnaire survey. The findings from the interviews and survey are benchmarked against the information gathered from the literature review.

The paper identifies various challenges that occupants face when evacuating a multi-storey residential building. In terms of the decision-making process, the research results evidence that occupants could be given more information on the evacuation procedures within their specific building. The paper also finds that occupants remain reluctant to use a lift during evacuation in fire event, irrespective of any signage clearly stating that is appropriate to do so in the context of modern lift technology.

This paper contributes to the body of knowledge available on the evacuation of multi-storey buildings located in large cities within the UK, outlining the potential areas for future research, focussed on providing an insight of the behavioural decisions made by the occupants make when evacuating a building in the event of a fire.

It is currently fashionable to herald “managing diversity” as an approach which signals a new dawn for equal opportunities. Within the management of diversity is a new, more positive approach to employee “‘difference” which prescribes the valuation of individuality and the abandonment of group based equality initiatives. In principle the focus on individuals suggests this approach lends itself particularly well to disabled employees who constitute a more heterogeneous group than women and ethnic minorities. The article evaluates this in the light of debates traditionally located within gender literatures and applies them to survey data gathered from UK HRM managers which details the disability equality initiatives adopted by their organisations. It argues that differences between disabled groups and those constituted on the basis of gender or race, together with differences amongst disabled people renders the group based and the managing diversity approach to equality largely rhetorical.