smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

UK small and medium-sized businesses say the state of the economy is the biggest concern they have right now.

According to the Orange SMS Business Jury, 23 per cent of respondents said overhead costs and fuel costs (17 per cent) were also sources of concern, suggesting businesses are increasingly worried about having to tighten their belts.

Just under 60 per cent of the 423 respondents describe the current state of the economy as in a “downturn” and nearly a third (31 per cent) go further and call it a fully blown “recession”.

Most of those businesses who think the economy is in either a downturn or recession see the current economic climate as a threat to their business (68 per cent), with only a handful of respondents (seven per cent) seeing it as an opportunity.

Of those businesses that feel the downturn is a threat to their business, one in six have already made staff layoffs, with an additional one in six halting plans for growth. A small number (three per cent) of businesses have had to sell assets and the same number have had to sell up completely.

The results are more positive on how long the downturn will last. Over half of the businesses who think the economy is in a downturn or recession predict that the current economic climate will change within the next 18 months (53 per cent); a quarter (28 per cent) predict a change within two years and just over one in ten (12 per cent) think it will go on for more than two years.

Of the businesses that see the current climate as an opportunity, some said the main reason was to acquire new customers, while others said the current climate was an opportunity to increase pricing or reduce supplier costs.

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