SMEs grow their turnovers despite cashflow concerns
The majority of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are growing their turnovers despite worrying about their cashflows, a survey has found.
Alternative small business lender Capify has found that 52 per cent said they were worried about their company’s cashflow over the next 12 months, with 23 per cent reporting it is keeping them awake at night.
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Almost a third (30 per cent) are “slightly concerned” about their cash reserves and 20 per cent are either “very” or “extremely” concerned.
Despite those concerns, over half (56 per cent) grew their turnover over the past 12 months, 27 per cent of which was by 10 per cent or more, while 46 per cent increased their profits.
Furthermore, 60 per cent of businesses expect to grow their turnover this year, with 15 per cent hoping for growth of 20 per cent or more and 45 per cent intend to hire new staff.
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“Cashflow appears to be the issue dominating the minds of SME owners up and down the UK,” said John Rozenbroek, chief financial officer at Capify.
“It would be an understatement to describe the last two years as turbulent, with businesses suffering from the uncertainty and economic damage caused by Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.
“To be blunt, our SMEs could do with a break in 2022. Sadly, with new custom controls introduced this month and the Omicron variant causing disruption and staff absences for businesses in many sectors, it appears that may be asking for too much.
“It’s encouraging to see that businesses are cautiously optimistic about the year ahead. That the majority who responded to our survey are looking to growth over the next year is a testament to the sheer resilience of UK businesses. Many are even looking to boost turnover by a fifth, which is incredible to see.
“For the UK’s SME community, economic recovery is still a long way off, but to small business owners please rest assured, Capify will continue to help in any way we can.”
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