Last month we commissioned some market research and invited our readers and customers to take part. Our aim was to build an accurate picture of the UK economy from the small business owner’s perspective. The research covered topics including marketing spend, projected revenue, funding sources, headcount changes, sales and finance plus other priorities and predictions for the next 12 months. 374 UK SME business owners and decision makers took part.
This post will form the first part of a series of posts which will detail our findings.
Just this week the ONS released UK unemployment figures and we’re seeing a 17 year high of 2.63million. However, our research suggests that the UK’s small businesses could help reverse the rise in unemployment.
According to our survey 27% said they plan to create new jobs and increase their employee numbers over the next 12 months.
But what could this mean in real terms? This Unemployment Infographic details the findings
Jason Stockwood CEO of Simply Business said:
“The optimistic picture these small businesses paint is heartening in these tough times. When you consider that SMEs account for 99.9 per cent* of the total enterprises in the UK and provide over 59 per cent* of the jobs in the private sector their continued success and growth is key to our economic recovery.”
