Wesleyan Bank carried out a survey that showed that UK SMEs are confident about their future growth prospects with almost two-thirds anticipating a growth of up to 40% over the next few years.
The ‘SME Heroes or Zeros’ report explained that the survey was carried out by 500 SMEs and the results were that 54% of these are now more confident in regard to their business prospects than what they were a year ago. The report revealed that 65% of SMEs said that they are sure they will experience a growth of up to 40% over the next two years. The report also highlighted that out of the 500 SME surveyed, only 11% were ‘concerned’ about the potential impact of Brexit.
Paul Slapa, head of direct sales at Wesleyan Bank, said: “The UK’s economic outlook is often clouded by negativity, but this research highlights that SMEs are performing strongly and have built solid foundations to prosper, both pre and post Brexit. Unless there is a material impact of their business today, there is no reason SMEs should put on hold their investment plans to sustain and maximise growth.”
Slapa continues to say that SMEs can gain external support from lenders to help spread the cost of equipment purchases and technology to help speed up return on investment. Businesses are increasingly discovering alternative finance options rather than relying on traditional borrowing methods such as overdrafts, savings and credit cards to help growth.
59% of UK SMEs have been reported by Wesleyan Bank to have used external funding on at least one occasion against only 30% in the same survey in 2016. 27% of these also state that they now ‘regularly’ turn to external finance; a figure which is up from 20% two years ago.
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