‘Astonishing lack of SME awareness of industrial strategy’, bank survey reveals

Aldermore, a specialist bank, has compiled a report ‘SME Future Attitudes’, which reveals a lack of awareness around the Government’s much-vaunted Industrial Strategy, with fewer than half of small manufacturing leaders having heard of it.

The report, which surveyed over a thousand senior SME decision-makers across the UK, revealed that of those in manufacturing who are aware of the strategy, less than a third are optimistic it will prove effective, although almost half do believe it will have a positive impact on their business.

The SME Future Attitudes report also indicated that Britain’s manufacturing SME’s believe the most important outcome of the Industrial Strategy should be to drive growth across the whole country and to support businesses to start and grow, with 16 per cent of SME’s in the sector saying that the Government should focus on these goal above all else. A further 11 per cent think that the Strategy needs to lead on encouraging trade and inward investment.

Carl D’Ammassa, Aldermore’s Group Managing Director for business finance, said: “It is early days for the Government’s new Industrial Strategy, however it is a shame that the lofty ambitions for the Strategy are yet to translate into widespread awareness. The Strategy was announced to much fanfare, however it appears that an opportunity has been missed in terms of the proper consultation with the people who know business better than anyone else - those individuals who run and manage their own businesses.

“To ensure the Industrial Strategy is a success, the Government needs to listen to SMEs and focus on the areas of greatest importance for them. From our experience, businesses are indicating a need for greater support particularly as they are looking to scale up, and a vital part of this is access to finance, which is something we at Aldermore prioritise, enabling the UK’s SMEs to get on with supporting and boosting the UK economy.”