A new survey suggests that business confidence is on the rise among UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
According to Amazon’s latest UK SME Growth Tracker, a collaborative report put together by Amazon, Capital Economics and Enterprise Nation, SMEs have enjoyed increases in revenue, employment and productivity over the past 12 months – leading many to feel very confident about their future.
The report reveals that overall, SMEs reported a 1.0 per cent increase in revenue, a 0.3 per cent increase in employment and a 0.7 per cent rise in productivity year-on-year.
Due to this impressive activity over the past 12 months, SMEs are anticipating strong revenue and jobs growth over the remainder of 2018 and beyond, the study reveals.
On average, SMEs are eyeing-up revenue growth of 1.5 per cent and jobs growth of 0.9 per cent – with many hoping to take greater advantage of e-commerce over the coming months in a bid to bolster this growth.
Commenting on the data, Emma Jones, of Enterprise Nation, said: “With business indicators reflecting a rising confidence amongst SMEs, today’s results suggest that businesses are feeling the benefits of digital technology, helping them to connect to a wider customer base.
“As global economic uncertainty continues to pose a threat to stable business conditions, it is essential that SMEs adopt agile and innovative ways of working to stay competitive,” she said.