New research, published by Oxford Economics and in partnership with Funding Circle, including a detailed survey of Funding Circle customers, reveals UK SMEs’ durability, with 58% of respondents saying their experience of dealing with the pandemic’s challenges has made their business more resilient.
Over the past year, increasing costs have replaced the pandemic as the primary challenge facing SMEs. Thirty-seven percent of respondents cited non-energy costs – with a further 8% citing energy prices – as the most significant issue they face. Nearly a fifth (18%) cited falling customer demand, and 8% supply chain disruption. At the same time, 42% of respondents said that withdrawing from the EU has had a negative impact on their business.
Half of SMEs (49%) expect to seek external finance over the coming year, with a further 29% expecting to raise finance from 2024 onwards, suggesting that medium-term growth ambitions remain stable. Eighty percent of these finance-seeking firms will do so for investment and growth purposes.
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