Resiliant SMEs Fight to Retain Staff and Stave
Off Redundancies
September 2009
68% of UK SMEs expect to hold on to their employees over the
coming year.
As new statistics reveal an unemployment benefits bill of £350 billion*,
Close Invoice Finance reveal encouraging figures showing that UK SMEs are
fighting to retain their employees.
In its latest Small Business Finance
Barometer study, Close Invoice Finance, part of the FTSE 250 merchant banking
group Close Brothers Group PLC, today reveals that 68% of SMEs - almost 3.2
million** companies nationwide - expect their employee base to be unaffected by
job losses over the next 12 months. Only 7% of SME owners thought they would
have to make redundancies this year.
David Thomson, Chief Executive Officer of
Close Invoice Finance said:
“It is very pleasing to see that small businesses, the engine room
of the British economy, are showing their strength and loyalty to employees.
In these challenging times, the availability of a skilled workforce is
fundamental in order to thrive.”
David added:
“However, despite the heartening figures, there is no room for
complacency. Difficult credit conditions are still affecting businesses
behaviour and if SMEs hope to retain their highly valued personnel they must
concentrate on maintaining healthy cash flow throughout the recession.”
In the survey of over 500 SME owner managers, there are notes of cautious
optimism in response to wider economic green shoots with 15.3% stating that they
expected their company to expand forwarding the future. However, one in five
admits to still feeling concerned about securing cash flow.
This year’s outlook was significantly more optimistic in comparison to 2008
with almost every region seeing a higher % of SMEs foreseeing ‘no redundancies’
or ‘an increase to employee base’. Of all the UK regions, the East of England
was most buoyant about their employee base with 83% hedging against
redundancies. (Details of regional various below)
| Region |
2008
% expecting employee base to remain the same or to increase |
2009
% expecting employee base to remain the same or to increase |
| South East |
65.3% |
79.7% |
| South West |
72.5% |
78.5% |
| Midlands |
61.9% |
81.8% |
| London |
64.5% |
71.1% |
| East of England |
66.1% |
83.3% |
| Yorkshire & Humber |
66% |
71.7% |
| North East |
60% |
66.7% |
| North West |
72.9% |
72.3% |
| Wales |
66.7% |
73.7% |
As companies hold on to staff, efforts should be focussed on
efficient and effective cash flow management tools in order to avoid issues such
as late payment and bad debt. To help clients manage these issues, Close
recently upgraded its award winning invoice discounting product, IDeal™, to
include bad debt protection cover. IDeal™ now offers clients all the benefits of
the real-time exchange of payment, plus the extra peace of mind of that comes
with knowing they are fully covered should any of their customers fail to meet
payment terms.
