OXFORD, England, November 17, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --

A report, which surveyed over 500 SME senior decision makers, reveals that 61% of SMEs are predicting strong income growth, and feeling more confident after the Brexit decision.

The research, part of Opus Energy's new Brighter Business report, has found that twenty-nine per cent of SMEs are more confident about their business since the referendum. While another 43% said their confidence remains unchanged. Collectively this has translated into projected income growth, with nearly two thirds (61%) of SME decision makers expecting increased revenue growth in the next two years, with some expecting increases of 20% upwards.

In terms of revenue, twenty six per cent of SME respondents expect this to increase 5-10%, with another 17% expecting returns to increase by 11-20%. Only 14% of respondents forecasted no growth at all.

In addition, when asked what would give the biggest boost to their business, exploiting new markets (33%), a better skilled workforce (20%) and more favourable government initiatives such as lower tax or interest rates (16%) were identified at the top of SME wish lists for the next two years, followed by factors such as diversification (14%) and better access to finance (10%).

Louise Boland, Opus Energy MD commented:

"It's great to see SMEs forecasting such a bright future, as they are the lifeblood of the UK. For many SMEs, getting on with business as usual is of utmost importance, and it's refreshing to see such optimism during a time of great political uncertainty." 

However, SME decision makers did identify barriers to their growth, with economic uncertainty (36%), competition (30%) and cashflow (17%) keeping them awake at night. Tax (16%), political red tape (16%) and the skills shortage (15%) also featured as major concerns. In contrast, over a fifth of respondents, 22%, said there were no barriers to growth whatsoever.

Boland concluded:

"Businesses will always encounter barriers, as each business is exposed to different risks that can affect growth - be that social, political or economic. While it's fantastic to see that over a fifth of businesses foresee no barriers, it's helpful to identify what road blocks SMEs are encountering, as it means helpful measures can be put in place to help counteract their concerns. For the UK economy to thrive, we need a strong SME network, so we hope our report demonstrates current SME sentiment and can provide the solutions many are looking for to help them reach their next step of their evolution." 

Survey of 501 SME decision makers by market research agency Atomik in August 2016

For more detailed information please visit http://www.opusenergy.com/

SOURCE Bottle