SME business growth surpasses expectations

New research suggests that growth in business revenue for small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) has exceeded expectations.

The latest Close Brothers Business Barometer saw 67 per cent of SMEs report growth in business revenue over the past 12 months. This figure is higher than what was predicted for the same period in last year’s survey, with only 43 per cent of businesses expecting growth.

Confidence in the coming year was also high, as nearly three quarters of UK-based SME owners and managers who took part in the survey said they were optimistic about growing revenues.

The survey highlighted that 58 per cent of those surveyed plan on investing further in their business in the next 12 months.

CEO of Close Brothers Asset Finance Mike Randall commented: “The Office for National Statistics states that the UK recovery is progressing faster than anticipated, and our figures seem to suggest that small and medium sized businesses are really benefiting from improved trading conditions.

“More than two fifths of the businesses we surveyed report up to 10 per cent growth in revenue, while 49 per cent cite a jump of between 10 per cent to 20 per cent in the last year.”

Randall recommended that SMEs place emphasis on planning ahead financially for the next year. He highlighted that owners and managers should explore multiple funding options to guarantee a continuation in growing business revenues.

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