2011 UK SME Trends Survey Launched by Simply Business

LONDON, September 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ --

SimplyBusiness.co.uk today launch a new annual SME Trends survey to gain insight into what challenges and opportunities are facing businesses in the UK right now and asking questions to gain insights into what the next twelve months will hold for this crucial sector of the UK economy.

In order to build this picture they are asking questions about marketing spend, cloud computing investment, projected revenue, funding sources and human resource changes. They will also be looking at what the priorities are for UK SMEs going forward with regards to finance, sales and cost saving.

Simply Business will be contacting a large sample of SMEs that they currently work with and inviting other small to medium sized enterprises to contribute too.  Findings will be published on the Simply Business website in October 2011. All data will of course be completely anonymised to protect contributors.  

Any UK business owner who would like to take part can complete the survey online in less than 10 minutes: http://www.simplybusiness.co.uk/knowledge/articles/2011/09/2011-09-12-sme-trend-small-business-survey-uk/

As an added incentive all respondents will be entered into a draw to win a Kindle and Kindle Book gift certificate.  

Jason Stockwood, CEO of Simply Business said:

"We're keen to build an accurate picture of the current state of the UK economy from a small business owner's perspective. We feel it's vital that small business owners are given a voice - particularly when you consider that SMEs account for 99.9% of the total enterprises in the UK and provide over 59% of the jobs in the private sector*. They really are the backbone of the UK economy."

*Taken from the Business Population Estimates for the UK and Regions 2010 issued by the department for Business Innovation and Skills, published by the ONS.

About Simply Business

Simply Business is the UK's largest business insurance provider.

Launched in 2005, the full service insurance specialist identified a need to improve insurance offerings for the UK's millions of small businesses whose needs were neglected by established insurance and broking companies.  Where the traditional broking model was slow-moving and inflexible, Simply Business developed an agile and online brokerage service which was able to deliver bespoke policies tailored to their individual and often very specific requirements.  Its online offering is supported by a dedicated, UK based team of insurance specialists who provide a tailored and personal service more commonly associated with broker relationships.

Today, Simply Business insures over 170,000 small business customers, more than any other UK broker.  It has been a Sunday Times Tech Track 100 company for the past three years, with offices in London and Northampton, and employs over 140 people.  Simply Business revenues have grown 44% a year from £4.2 million in 2006, to £12.5 million in 2009.

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For more information, please contact 
Lexi Mills lexi.mills@distilled.co.uk
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