In Focus Commercial Credit
UK’s small firms to exploit Brexit opportunities
Now is the time for businesses to look forward, despite the political machinations
Gavin Wraith-Carter Managing director, Hitachi Capital Business Finance
Whilst Brexit may have caused political paralysis in Westminster, the UK’s fastest growing small businesses see specific opportunities to exploit. New research explores whether further
Brexit delay and protracted uncertainty will be well received by small business leaders – who see opportunity from uncertainty and want to get on with growing their enterprises. The findings are from The Business
Barometer – quarterly research by Hitachi Capital Business Finance that has tracked the highs and lows of small business confidence since 2015. The latest study asked a nationally
representative sample of more than 1,000 small business owners to reflect on the perceived opportunities that might arise for their business as a result of the public’s decision for the UK to leave the EU. Our data reveals that small business views
towards Brexit correlated closely to the overall outlook for their business. Those enterprises that were most likely to predict significant expansion in the months ahead were highly likely to identify tangible opportunities arising from Brexit (70%), whereas those predicting contraction (31%) or risk of closure (25%) were least likely to see any upside.
The five big opportunities for the UK’s fastest growing small businesses Those predicting significant growth were able to pinpoint a number of tangible
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Our data reveals that small business views towards Brexit correlated closely to the overall outlook for their business. Those enterprises that were most likely to predict significant expansion in the months ahead were highly likely to identify tangible opportunities arising from Brexit (70%), whereas those predicting contraction (31%) or risk of closure (25%) were least likely to see any upside
opportunities they could exploit from the UK leaving the EU. For a majority, the benefits had little,
if anything, do to with politics – the opportunities were based on employing the advantages of speed and agility to grow and open new markets at a time of uncertainty and change.
A time to open up new markets For fast growing small businesses, the biggest perceived opportunity related to building new partnerships and business relationships in non-EU countries (32%). In a fast-paced and digitised global
economy, opening new markets is good for growth – and, for fast growing smaller companies, Brexit has been a trigger to encourage this. Overall, those UK small businesses
that predicted significant growth were 10 times more likely to say the possibility of new markets was an opportunity to be seized in the current climate – 32% compared to 3% of businesses predicting contraction.
Net percentage of small business owners that see opportunities arising from Brexit – cross-referenced by outlook for growth in 2019
Significant expansion Modest organic growth No change/stay the same Contract/scale down Struggle to survive
www.CCRMagazine.com
70% 53% 43% 31% 25%
May 2019
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