A study by the National Association of Commercial Brokers (NACFB) has discovered that even though the number of UK small and medium businesses now rests at 2.16 million, between 2012 and 2013, UK business population growth slowed with SME expansion dropping from 3.3 per cent to 0.9 per cent.
Adam Tyler, CEO of the NACFB, said: “The SME population has been the first to bounce back after the financial crisis, suggesting an ability to adapt quicker than some larger businesses and respond to customers’ changing needs. But their small size also leaves them vulnerable to funding shortages, legislative change and the ebb and flow of the economy.
“As the UK recovery moves into second gear, SMEs will need a further hand to sustain their early growth. There are far more funding sources available to SMEs now than before the crash – alternative finance has already stepped up its game and the revised Funding for Lending Scheme should prompt greater volumes of business lending in 2014.”
Since 2011, SME numbers have expanded in 18 out of 20 industries with the professional, scientific and technical industries seeing the biggest SME population growth at an added 35,905.
England leads the way with 4.6 per cent SME population growth since 2011 closely followed by Scotland with 4.5 per cent. Both cases beat the growth of larger firms at 3.3 per cent for the former and 3.9 per cent with the latter.
In the same timeframe, small businesses in Northern Ireland fell by 1.9 per cent, whereas Wales experienced 0.3 per cent growth.
|
|
UK |
England |
Scotland |
Wales |
N. Ireland |
|
SME growth |
4.2% |
4.6% |
4.5% |
0.3% |
-1.9% |
|
Large business growth |
3.3% |
3.3% |
3.9% |
5.5% |
-2.5% |
Adam Tyler added: “SMEs are the stalwarts of the economic recovery: they have made the early running and played vital role in brightening the UK’s future prospects. By fuelling activity in greater numbers across the majority of UK industries, they have helped rebuild a strong foundation for further growth.
“Uneven growth across the British Isles still shows more work needs to be done to support the revival of small business fortunes. SMEs in England and Scotland have benefitted from innovative business lending, which has increased the mix of commercial finance available to entrepreneurs.”
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