SMEs anticipating substantial growth over next two years

New research carried out by Wesleyan Bank suggests that 65 per cent of Britain’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are anticipating achieving growth of at least 40 per cent in the next two years.

The bank’s SME Heroes or Zeroes report, which assessed business confidence across a number of industries and sectors, also found that only 11 per cent of SMEs are ‘concerned’ about political and economic uncertainty in the years ahead.

It found that SMEs are largely hoping to achieve their growth ambitions through exploring alternative sources of funding and finance – something which many of today’s small businesses are already accustomed to.

Of the 500 SMEs quizzed as part of the survey, more than half (59 per cent) said that they had used external or alternative funding sources on at least one occasion.

A further 38 per cent of respondents told Wesleyan that they were feeling increasingly ‘cautious’ about approaching traditional high street banks for finance due to previous experiences which had not fallen in line with their wishes.

The report’s authors claim that the survey makes clear that many SMEs are hoping to use alternative finance as a ‘growth accelerator’ in the years ahead.

However, it suggests that, while knowledge of alternative finance options is on the rise among SMEs, many small businesses still have a lot to learn.