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We've heard corporate Scotland complain about the behaviour of the banks in pushing up the costs of - and conditions on - credit. And we've heard the banks protest that they're making huge amounts of money available, but that even pre-arranged overdrafts are not being utilised.

Today, we get some independent adjudication, with detailed analysis of how the credit market is operating. PricewaterhouseCoopers and Strathclyde University's Fraser of Allander Institute have pulled together the company report, business survey and client evidence.

Some of their conclusions are no surprise, others are alarming, and some are both. Most of the lending activity in the market over the past year has been to re-finance debt, rather than to finance mergers and acquisitions. And in doing so, Scottish corporates face higher fees, margins and charges for undrawn facilities and guarantees. Where credit lines have not been drawn, access to that money is being withdrawn. Delays are common, and banks often prefer to roll over debt rather than commit to renewal.

So companies can go to the market for debt financing? Hardly. More than £50bn was raised in the corporate bond market last year, of which only 5% was for Scottish plcs. And that was across only four companies: Dana Petroleum, Stagecoach, FirstGroup and Scottish and Southern Energy.

"Entering into 2010, there is a strong case for more Scottish corporates to consider alternative sources of funding such as the corporate bond market, private placement or switching debt provider," says the report. But switching provider is not too easy, particularly when two banks so dominate Scottish lending.

Taking the 500 biggest companies in Scotland, and looking at their 2008-09 results, the research reckons they were carrying £23bn in debt by the end of last year - an increase of £4bn on the previous figure. Most of that increase was from utilities, construction, offshore and transport companies.

Yet UK businesses were cutting their borrowing by nearly 8% by the end of last year. Put those factors together, and you end up with an estimate of Scotland's corporate borrowing facility of between £36bn and £41bn.

Two of the big borrowing sectors are going to need a lot more finance, quite soon. The drive for renewable energy investment is colossal. The recent licences granted for offshore wind farm developments mean around £14bn of capital. Ofgem has today estimated that new energy investment around Britain will require £200bn of investment over the next 10 years. Meanwhile, FirstGroup and Stagecoach will need access to capital if they are to compete for new rail franchises this year.

Kshocolat has melted, and gone are the 25 jobs that went with it. The Glasgow-based luxury chocolate retailer - with its chilli almond, champagne truffle and black pepper/white chocolate offerings - wasn't up to the downturn in the most discretionary of consumer spending. It was cash flow that got it in the end.

At this time of year, you might have thought there would be hundreds of people clamouring at the company's three retail outlets to demand they get hold of their Valentine's orders before the shutters come down.

Not so, according to the administrators RSM Tenon. The total orders still having to be processed ahead of Valentine's Day was a mere three customers. That tells you something about the company's lack of business, but it also tells you something about lovers' late planning for gifts.

Those three are likely to get a refund, while administrators are looking for buyers of the company's stock. That could be an auction worth attending.