UK200Group member comments that SMEs are growing and investing at the strongest rate in five years
A member of the UK200Group of independent accountancy and law firms has today commented on news that according to a survey conducted by the FSB (Federation of Small Businesses), SMEs are growing and investing at the strongest rate in five years. This is because the economic recovery is gathering pace and entrepreneurs’ commitments to invest more in their businesses over the next 12 months has reached highs not seen since 2010. The group reports that its members ”are in a robust mood”, with confidence among them picking up markedly in the second quarter of the year. “The latest survey readings on job creation, productivity, and investment all bode well for small businesses sustaining the economy’s growth through 2015,” it said.
Duncan Montgomery, tax partner at UK200Group member firm Whittingham Riddell LLP, said: “The robust mood of the SMEs is very apparent in the market place, there is a tight labour market in the regions for finance directors and qualified staff, acquisitions are moving swiftly as banks have funding to lend, and enthusiasm for business is much higher, margins are under pressure in many sectors, but less so than before.
“Order books generally are doing well, though last month was a little quieter with the bank holidays intervening. Have to hope that neither a European crisis or a referendum dampens the enthusiasm.”