Half of small businesses ‘confident’ about growth prospects

British small business owners expect growth this year, with 51 per cent of managers surveyed by Close Brothers predicting an increase in orders.  

The Close Brothers Business Barometer questioned over 900 small-medium enterprise owners and senior management across a range of sectors. A tenth of businesses expect to contract in 2017 and the remaining 39 per cent expect trading levels to remain the same as last year.

Neil Davies, CEO of Close Brothers Asset Finance, said: “Despite the large number of unknowns, the overall sentiment among SME businesses is relatively positive.

“Generally speaking, the larger the business the more positive they are about 2017, with organisations at the smaller end of the scale expecting their prospects to remain the same this year. Manufacturing industries are the most optimistic, with 64 per cent of [exporters] expecting growth this year.”

The survey also highlights concern over access to investment, as a third of businesses surveyed would invest to support growth plans, if cashflow and funding availability permitted.

Davies continues: “It appears that if businesses were more confident about their access to funding, they would revise their growth ambitions upwards.

“This is particularly true of businesses with a turnover of £5m, 46 per cent of whom would invest more if funding allowed.”