Member Article

Positive Outlook for Owner Managed Businesses

73% of Owner Managed Businesses (OMBs) say they will be in a stronger financial position in a year’s time while only 3% say they will be worse off One third of businesses describe themselves as ambitious with a strong appetite for growth with plans to make it happen 20% will use alternative sources to fund future growth (including crowdfunding)

Owner-managed businesses are the engine of the British economy, creating wealth and jobs across all sectors and regions. Together they account for almost half of the nation’s private-sector employment and contribute around £750 billion to our GDP. Their health and growth is vital for our long-term prosperity.

Allied Irish Bank (GB)‘s salient report of Steps to Growth touches on the regional splits across the country as well as sectorial viewpoints on business growth. Commenting on the findings of the report, Brendan O’Connor, Managing Director AIB Group (UK) p.l.c. said:

“More than two thirds of the businesses we spoke to believe they will be in a stronger financial position this time next year. A third have a clear strategy for achieving growth, while another third expect to be more opportunistic, creating new products and services in response to changing demand, or seizing market share where they can.”

Tony Kelly, Regional Director North of England at Allied Irish Bank (GB) added: “Companies in the North West, the home of expanding overseas investors such as AstraZeneca and Vauxhall General Motors, are especially optimistic: Over 70% say their best days are still to come, by far the highest proportion of the companies we surveyed. To further highlight this confidence 78% of business surveyed in the North-West expect to hire additional staff in the next 12 months with 11% asked expecting their workforce to grow by more than half. “

Steps to Growth is built from market research, professional insight and national customer case studies. Steps to Growth opens the discussions around crucial business topics, including the number one way companies implement their growth strategy, where 65% state operating efficiently is the solution. Other report findings include innovation being the key part of business strategies with three out of four respondents identifying it as highly important, especially within manufacturing and recruitment.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Caroline Marsden .