Four-fifths of small businesses predict performance improvement

News Article - 23 May 2012
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More than four-fifths of UK small business owners think their company's performance will remain the same or improve over the next four years, a Bank of Scotland Business Banking survey has found.

The study discovered that 81 per cent of entrepreneurs expected the unchanging or better performance from their company but less than half predicted the same of the UK economy.

Around 48 per cent said they thought the economy would remain the same or get better while 46 per cent believe the economy would get worse.

More than half of the businesses surveyed predicted that they would freeze investments in the coming year while a quarter said they were budgeting so they could spend more next year.

According to the survey, small businesses in the Yorkshire/Humberside region are most likely to invest in their business but not in recruitment, with 14 per cent of companies in the area saying they plan to recruit.

Just over two-thirds of companies questioned said they think managing their business is harder than it was five years ago.

The results follow the Make your Mark campaign which provided insight into young people's attitudes towards business enterprise. A study by the campaign identified six different groups of entrepreneurs by their desire and readiness for ventures.

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