Patrick Elliott, chief executive of Business Link in London, said: “This Index gives a significant insight into how London’s small businesses are impacted by, and responding to, the recession. These results are an encouraging sign in these turbulent times - but they don’t come as a surprise to us. We regularly survey our clients on how they’re managing through the recession and we’re seeing a clear trend emerge of a sector that is refusing to get bogged down in the doom and gloom. But what’s telling from this index is that this confidence is across the board – many entrepreneurs across regional, industry, and demographic groups are responding to the recession by aggressively seeking out new market opportunities.”
Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “It is extremely heartening and will inspire confidence in the strength of the capital’s economy that so many of London’s small and medium sized firms are planning to expand in the coming year. Making up nearly 99 per cent of our business sector, they create half of all the capital’s jobs and are therefore critical to its success. I will continue to do all I can to support these firms and ensure they get all the help they need to get through the downturn - they will, after all, be our spring board to economic growth and prosperity when the upturn comes.”
Maintaining and generating sales was identified as the single biggest challenge facing all businesses. However, three quarters of those surveyed remain optimistic about their business over the next twelve months. Of those who are planning to grow, most planned to drive this through diversifying their business operation - 43 per cent plan to enter new markets, and 35 per cent are looking to develop new products and services.
Start-ups were more likely to have difficulties with accessing funding while established businesses tended to have more difficulties with generating new business. A quarter of all pre-starts cited the falling value of the pound as the biggest impact and nearly half are revisiting their business plan projections as a result of the recession. However, despite being most affected by the recession, start-ups were the most optimistic about their business prospects with 89 per cent planning on growing their business over the next twelve months.
