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The UK SME Sector

Whether we’re talking of the corner shop, the restaurant, the accountant, the web designer, the car valeter, the engineering business or the hairdresser, the Small and Medium sized Enterprise is the UK’s business backbone.

UK SMEs provide over 33% of UK GDP and over 50% of UK employment – they are the powerhouse of our economy today and they include the future giants of tomorrow’s economy. There are over 3.6m SMEs in the UK but 99.5% employ less than 200 people. Each year around 175,000 business register for VAT and most survive through to the end of their first year. However, from then on a fairly savage mortality rate takes hold; by the end of the third year approximately one third have failed.

Of the worst places to start a business, R3 (The Association of Business Recovery Professionals) found that Peterborough, Sunderland, Manchester, Bolton and Belfast had the highest recent failure rates. Llandrindod Wells, Truro, South West London, Guilford and Carlisle had the lowest failure rates.

But why so many failures? Here R3 report management failings as a primary factor in one third of cases of business insolvencies. They go on to state that if management inability to protect margins (by adding value and cutting costs) is included then management has to bear responsibility of a full 50% of failures. Is this fair when so many of these businessmen and women are so talented and work so hard? As cruel as it might sound, being the best IT software designer or the best hairstylist is simply not enough to succeed in a new business venture; a wide range of business skills is required but many fail to realise this until it is simply too late.

This is why The Academy of Business Consultants believes that the founders of these vitally important businesses deserve the best assistance that they can get. That’s why we have studied in depth the special needs and opportunities of the UK’s SME owner-managers. We know their problems and we talk their language. And that’s why we have developed our unique training programmes to ensure that they get the best people and the best advice tailored to their exact needs.