One in ten SMEs mulls closing

More than 11% of British SMEs have considered closing in the last three months, according to a new SME risk index from Zurich and YouGov.

The index found that 84% of SME decision-makers were fairly concerned about the UK’s current economic climate, with 34% feeling very concerned.

Looking to the future, 69% of SMEs are not confident that the economic climate will improve next year.

Despite these results, 33% of firms said business innovation was the biggest opportunity for their business. This was followed by cost and expense reduction (30%) and exploring web-trading and online marketing (22%).

In addition, the index found that 58% of British SMEs have expanded activity to target new customers.

Over a fifth of British SMEs are also looking to expand overseas.

Zurich director of SME Richard Coleman said: “It is clear that SMEs are feeling the strain of an uncertain economic environment. Our research shows their confidence has been hit and they are concerned about the future. 

“While it’s encouraging that SMEs are looking for new opportunities to ease the pressure, there are considerable risks associated with development and expansion, particularly when owners are using personal capital to fund such activity.”