UK SME confidence reaches all-time high

The positive feeling among UK small businesses has reached new levels according to the latest Small Business Index by the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).
 
SME confidence reached a balance of +41 in Q3 2014 – the first time confidence levels have ever reached this point – while all SME sectors recorded a positive outlook for the next three months.
 
It’s the seventh successive month that UK small businesses have been positive about the future. Almost two-thirds (61 per cent) declared that they anticipated their business to grow in the next 12 months, with 11 per cent forecasting rapid growth in the next year.
 
The region with the most confident SMEs is the South East, which recorded a confidence score of +52. Encouragingly, the North East showed the greatest confidence boost compared with last year, ranked at +44 compared to a negative -4 during Q3 2013.
 
The financial sector was the most confident about its future growth, with a score of +62, but the health and social sectors and the hospitality sector experienced the biggest increase in confidence, demonstrating that SME confidence was widespread across a spectrum of industries.
 
John Allan, national chairman of the FSB, believes SMEs need to be supported in their desire for expansion and said the federation wants the political parties to spell out how they would supper the SME community in driving the economic recovery.
 
“We’re seeing record breaking confidence from our members which suggests small firms will continue to spearhead the UK’s recovery,” he said.
 
“We want policy makers to lock in this optimism and continue to back the self-employed and small businesses.
 
“As we head in to party conference season, we’ll be looking to all the political parties to spell out what they will do to encourage job creation, investment and reward entrepreneurs in the next Parliament.”

Date published 18 Sep 2014 | Last updated 18 Sep 2014