smallbusiness.co.uk: Helping your business think big

Small business owners in the UK are confident about their future business prospects but recognise that they may have to change the way they run their business, says specialist lender Kensington.

There have been five interest rate rises in the last 12 months, putting an increasing strain on SMEs around the nation.

However, the Self-Employed Index from Kensington indicates that 67 per cent of those running their own business are confident about their prospects over the next six months, which is up from 64 per cent last quarter.

As well as this, more than half of business owners are expecting their turnover to increase in the coming 12 months.

However, entrepreneurs are having to make various changes as the rate rises have an effect. More people now say they do not plan to recruit more staff over the next year than they did last quarter.

Other measures likely to be taken are not investing in new equipment and training, and increasing marketing budgets.

Also, the study showed the 35 to 44 year old age bracket to be the most confident, and that women are slightly more confident about future turnover prospects than men.

'No business is resistant to external influences and, when circumstances change, successful businesses are able to react to those circumstances and come back stronger than ever before,' says Kensington's director of marketing, Ian Giles.

Read about Managing debt as interest rates rise.

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