There has been new research conducted by Hitachi Capital British Business Barometer. The research has found that Small and Medium companies in the manufacturing sector are looking at opportunities for the future and are optimistic about the UK decision to leave the European Union.
The results from this research show that 49% of these SMEs are expecting their businesses to grow over the next three months. This is good news after the grim outlook for the UK that was initially portrayed before the referendum last June. This new result is more optimistic than six months ago and immediately after the referendum, when 31% of businesses anticipated growth.
The research by Hitachi Capital British Business Barometer is carried out quarterly in order to watch out for change or continuity in the confidence of SMEs in the UK. The study also looked at whether SMEs were expecting a decline, the percentage of companies expecting a decline has lowered from 12% to 9% over the six months. There seems to be an increased level of confidence within the SME sector.
15 different sectors were surveyed as part of Hitachiâs research, with SMEs within the manufacturing sector remaining the most upbeat. The small manufacturing centers are more likely to be reliant on the markets overseas. 52% of those companies surveyed expected growth to come over the next 12 months from the UK. However, 32% of the SMEs are planning to expand in to overseas markets in order to achieve growth.
Not including the UK, the EU was the next most important, with 33.2% of manufacturing SMEs have seen the potential for growth in this market for the year ahead.
It has also been shown by the research that the manufacturing sector was the most likely to see opportunity from leaving the European Union, with 70% of companies in this sector likely to see improvement. This is far higher than other sectors which include Media, who hope to see a 40% increase in opportunities, Education and Construction sectors who expect to see 41% and 42% more opportunities respectively.
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