North East small business owners are among the most positive across the UK in terms of their future growth and job creation prospects – but they’ve not been immune to the economic challenges that have been facing the country.
That’s the conclusion of new research by Sumer, the UK’s leading mid-market accountancy practice for SMEs, and The Entrepreneurs Network into the challenges and opportunities facing the UK’s business owners and entrepreneurs.
More than four-fifths of North East business owners (84%) surveyed in the United Growth Report felt their region had a strong business community, the highest figure recorded in any of the 12 UK regions and nations.
A broadly similar number (78%) said they expected to grow their turnover in the coming year, which is the equal highest return alongside Northern Ireland, while three quarters (74%) expected to hire more staff in the same period.
More than three quarters of North East-based respondents (78%) also said they were expecting to increase their turnover through the next 12 months.
On the downside, more than two thirds (68%) said they had have come close to closing their businesses in the last six months, a figure only behind Northern Ireland and well above the 44% national average.
Unsurprisingly, a very high proportion (92%) of North East business owners believe that economic inequality between the regions of the UK was a problem, especially with regard to under-investment, skills shortages and potential economic stagnation, while taxes and regulations were identified as the biggest obstacles to growth.
Stephen Slater, commercial services director at RMT Accountants & Business Advisors, which is part of the Sumer network, says: “The North East economy has always been built on the resilience and optimism of its small businesses, and it’s clear that today’s regional business owners are facing the challenges ahead with the same degree of robust self-belief.
“This reflects a broader confidence among our entrepreneurs that key drivers of business success will improve in the coming year, with their commitment towards growing both their turnover and their workforces boding well for the future.
“The high proportion of regional SME owners who said they’d been considering closing their businesses is clearly a concern and they will be hoping that the measures now being outlined by the new government will have the desired effect on economic growth.
“With the right policies support in place to support meaningful and sustained change, we would hope to see the positivity of our regional SME owners being turned into tangible economic and business gains.”