The Barclays Business Regional Impact Index, launched last week in conjunction with Kingston University, reveals which regions in Great Britain benefit most from the contributions of their SMEs and, crucially, the role they are playing in boosting recovery across the country.
The Index, based on an in-depth study of 1,000 owner managers, combined with qualitative analysis by Kingston University’s Small Business Research Centre, ranks each region on 13 key indicators including profit last year and expected profit in 2010, outlook on growth, employment generation, investment in training, purchases from local suppliers and innovation.
The analysis reveals that overall London and the South West tops the Index, which is largely owing to their exposure to external markets. However, the analysis also highlights the key strengths of small businesses in the regions including:
- Small businesses in the South West have seen the greatest increase in headcount over the last three years. Businesses in Central England, South East England and South West England are the most optimistic about job creation in the coming year.
- Those businesses based in South West England have the most optimistic outlook on growth out of all regions in Britain, followed by those in London and Wales.
- Yorkshire & Humberside had the highest proportion of profitable businesses, followed by the North East and East of England.
- The North West is strongly focused on ‘buying local’, followed by small businesses in Scotland and Yorkshire & Humberside providing strong support for other businesses in the area.
Commenting on the findings, Professor Robert Blackburn, Small Business Research Centre, Kingston University who developed the Index said:
“Within the UK, 99.7% of all firms employ less than 250 people and their importance to local and regional economies as well as the national economy cannot be overstated.
“Overall the analysis shows that small businesses make a major contribution to their local and regional economies, particularly those in the Northern regions of England and Scotland. However, whilst this localism is crucial to providing opportunities for consolidation and growth, it is also important for these businesses to look for customers and markets further afield if they are to move to a next stage of development.”
Travers Clarke-Walker, a Director at Barclays Business, believes the research provides further evidence that the contribution of small businesses to the overall economy has never been greater. He said, “We hear a lot of rhetoric around the importance of small businesses, but this analysis illustrates just what that means on the ground. Small businesses have contributed, and continue to contribute to the resilience of local regions amid unstable economic conditions, the credit crunch and public sector cutbacks. They are without question the ones driving growth and creating jobs in every city in the UK.”
“The UK’s small businesses are demonstrating both a resilience that is inspiring and an entrepreneurial drive to succeed even in challenging conditions.”
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