Could SME growth catalyse an economic surge?
Leading SME investment experts – IW Capital and the UKBAA – discusses the importance of supporting thesmall business economy.
It has been announced today that Britain’s economic growth rate has reached its lowest level in almost a decade, after the ONS announced that year-on-year growth fell to 1%. However, a narrowing trade deficit fueled by growing exports of both goods and services offered encouragement for firms trading outside the UK. What more can be done to ensure that the UK’s globally facing private sector will provide the growht and ambition to thrive and support a growing economy?
SMEs make up 99.9% of private sector businesses and so supporting entrepreneurs to start businesses as well as providing vital growth finance is clearly of the utmost importance to the overall health of the UK economy. Small firms also employ over 16million people in the UK and has recently grown at a faster rate than the overall job market.
Luke Davis, CEO of IW Capital, reacts to the news:
“The small business community and its success is as important to the economy as any change in Government in the near future. With an economic contribution of over £2trillion, the success of the UK economy as a whole may in future hinge on the prosperity of SMEs, start-ups and high-growth firms. There are a fantastic range of innovative, growing SMEs that we work with that are likely to drive our private sector forward in the coming years. And it certainly seems that private equity, through routes such as the Enterprise Investment Scheme, as well as other alternative finance options will be key to the business community in the future of a growing economy.
“As entrepreneurs and investors look to capitalise on new opportunities that are bound to exist in the next few years, growth finance will be key to making the most of that. The predicted growth of the economy should be marked as a statement of intent by investors looking to support small businesses that make up our fantastic SME arena and wider private sector economy.”
Jenny Tooth OBE – CEO of the UK Business Angels Association said:
“The SME sector is full of ambitious entrepreneurs looking to ignite economic growth in their respective regions within the UK. With SMEs making up 99.9% of all businesses in the UK, it is essential that they continue to deliver vital growth. With manufacturing output decreasing, we need to make sure that small businesses in other sectors are given the full confidence they need to continue to thrive. Although we may be going through murky political waters, the business community of the UK must stand together. Investors, whether they be institutional or private, such as angel investing, have never been so important to the sustainability of British SMEs.”
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