According to a new study, almost three quarters (72 per cent) of established small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) believe that the UK is a great place to set up a new business.
The research, which was carried out by the Small Business Research Centre in collaboration with analytics company Dun & Bradstreet, suggests that British business owners are immensely proud of their successes – and believe that budding entrepreneurs have a huge chance at success if they choose to base their operations in the UK.
The findings come just weeks after Forbes magazine’s 2017 global rankings listed Britain as the ‘number one country in the world’ to do business.
However, the Small Business Research Centre’s study did find that British businesses are grappling with a number of challenges in 2018.
Most notably, the survey found that late payments were an ongoing factor affecting business confidence and growth.
It revealed that more than a quarter (26 per cent) of businesses believed that timely payments were critical in order for their business to thrive. Despite this, however, the majority of SMEs quizzed said that they were owed anywhere between £63,881 and £250,000 in late payments.
35 per cent of firms said that the issue had led to cash flow problems, while 24 per cent said that the problem had reduced their profit performance.
Despite these issues, however, 75 per cent of businesses said they were confident they would rise above the challenges they face and achieve substantial financial growth in the next five years.
