Frances Coulson, President of the Insolvency body R3, comments: “The Government has created a number of schemes to support SMEs, as they are vital to the health of the economy but they need more help to survive this difficult economic environment.
However, it is clear that many SMEs are not financially robust enough to withstand the economic pressure. Either more support is needed in 2012 to enable a real recovery; or some businesses will inevitably fail rather than continue to limp along, damaging competition.”
Across the board, over half of businesses are feeling signs of distress, however this is down by 10 percentage points on three months ago and significantly lower than December 2010, when over three quarters of businesses reported feeling signs of distress.
The report also found that businesses which are able to make and receive online payments are faring better than those who can’t. Nearly forty percent of those who can’t use online payments are experiencing decreased profits, this is compared to 25 per cent of those who can.
Frances Coulson concludes: “Businesses and consumers find it easier and quicker to make and receive payments online. In 2012, it is very likely that those who are not making use of online services to streamline basic business processes will get left behind.”
