A new poll has found that small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) in the UK are less positive than their Nordic counterparts on the outlook for the economy.
The latest SME Barometer produced by accountancy group Azets covering the countries where it operates found that 40 per cent of UK SMEs expect the economic climate to worsen in the coming months. Across all regions – which also include Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden – optimism fell to 51%, down from 68% a year earlier.
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Despite concerns over the economy 62% of all SMEs expect their turnover to increase during the next year and 53% expect profits to improve. Soaring cost inflation is the biggest day-to-day challenge facing the SME community, along with "serious" recruitment problems.
“The impact on the global economy and the SME sector will be immense when we start to analyse the effect of sanctions, price fluctuations on commodities and disruption to the global supply chain," said Peter Gallanagh, Azets' regional manager for Scotland.
“Despite this new uncertainty, SMEs remain committed to pivoting their business models and embracing digitalisation as the biggest opportunities to fuel growth."
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