Travel industry veteran Duncan Wilson, the former Airtours boss who brought Minoan Group to Glasgow, has said banks are "closed for lending to small businesses".

The chief executive of the AIM-listed group was commenting on Minoan's raising of £5 million from a Jersey-based investment fund to speed up growth plans for its high-street Stewart Travel chain.

Mr Wilson said the growth of the group's travel and leisure business was on track but went on: "We would have hoped to have been able to secure additional finance through the bank to continue our acquisitions.

"In my opinion the banks are closed. It has meant we had to look to other routes to access finance, which we have done."

He went on: "It is acquisition finance so we can continue with our programme irrespective of what the bank says - they are all closed. They are lending to small businesses I have never met. There is capital out there, but not in the banks."

Minoan has arranged a three-year loan facility of up to £5m with Hillside International Holdings, a family wealth office based in Jersey, at an interest rate of 8%, to be drawn down in two halves.

However, the group's Cretan project, which brokers say has the potential to at least double Minoan's current market value, might mean no second tranche of borrowing was needed, Mr Wilson said. "We are making significant progress in Greece, it is not obvious on the surface," he said.

The group said its Crete strategic environment assessment, the final step before planning consent, was "now in final stages of preparation and will be ready for submission very shortly".

The loan deal includes working capital and offers warrants which allow Hillside to subscribe for up to 50 million Minoan shares at 8p a share over the next four years.

It follows a deal in July which saw a private investor subscribe £770,000, with a potential investment of £2m, for a 20% stake in the group's travel and leisure business.

Minoan said that business had enjoyed "a very good year to date and will comfortably show double digit growth".

It has now acquired As You Like It Holidays, which specialises in holidays and short breaks focusing on music festivals all over the world, for a maximum £200,000.

In July Minoan reported that its first-half revenues increased 60% to £20m and pre-tax profits came in at £117,000.

The only setback was the abandonment of its trial travel kiosks in post offices, which Mr Wilson had hoped to roll out nationally to 5000 outlets.

He commented: "It is more important that you try something rather than avoid everything. Notwithstanding that we will have significantly better performance this year than last year."

Mr Wilson was behind the relocation of the group's headquarters to Glasgow two years ago.

Minoan said yesterday: "The consolidation of the T&L business in its Glasgow office has now been successfully completed. The new office is fully equipped to handle gross annual sales in excess of £150m."

Christopher Egleton, chairman, said: "With the ability to establish a firm timetable relating to crystallising the value of our Crete project and further potential acquisitions in the T&L business, we are increasingly confident in the group's prospects."

House brokers WH Ireland say approval of the Cretan project could put a value of 12.8p to 15.3p on the shares, which rose 0.25p to 6.25p yesterday, valuing Minoan at around £9.4m.