Shortage of skilled staff biggest obstacle to growth for SMEs

The difficulty in finding skilled staff has been highlighted as the biggest obstacle to growth for the UK’s small businesses, with those in the manufacturing industry reporting the highest level of concern.

According to findings from a new report from Albion Ventures, while 50 percent of small businesses with over five employees planning to grow their headcount over the next two years, finding skilled staff tops the list of challenges business owners face, up from third place in 2015. 

On a sector basis, SMEs in the manufacturing industry reported the highest level of concern about finding skilled staff, followed by those in the technology and telecoms sector and construction businesses in third place. 

This is the first time that SMEs have identified a shortage of skilled staff as the biggest obstacle to growth, ahead of red tape and regulation ranked in second and third places in 2016. 

Political uncertainty and leaving the EU were ranked in fourth and sixth place respectively, suggesting that small business owners are most concerned with tangible obstacles to growth rather than those over which they have less control.  

“A shortage of skilled staff shows that the growth pressures on the economy are at the most sophisticated end of the scale, which is precisely where we can expect to generate the biggest returns. The economy is coming under capacity constraints at a time of considerable political uncertainty,” commented Patrick Reeve, Managing Partner at Albion Ventures.

“Policymakers charged with deciding our post-Brexit future must recognise that many of the skills that enable us to compete in a fast-changing and increasingly competitive world are in short supply and our best chance of overcoming this challenge is by building on the UK’s first class reputation as a home for global talent.”

The skills shortage is most acute among London-based small firms followed by those in the South East and the North West.