Business confidence bounces back from easing of lockdown

Our latest Business Barometer study in July has found that in just three months the proportion of UK small businesses predicting growth has almost doubled from 14% to 27%.

Following the results from our Novuna Business Finance quarterly tracking study that saw last quarters business confidence plummet amidst lockdown - the new findings show the highest quarter-on-quarter rise in five years.

By sector, the IT/telecoms sector had the highest proportion of small businesses that predicted growth for the three months to 30^th September (44%). In addition, there were also significant rises in sectors hardest hit by lockdown. In retail, the percentage of small businesses predicting growth rose from 21% to 27% - and in hospitality growth forecasts rose from 11% to 16% in the three months since April.

Small businesses that had been trading for less than five years (35%) and those that employed 10-49 employees (37%) were most likely to predict business growth for the next three months.

(The research was conducted by YouGov among a representative sample of 1,266 small business decision makes in July 2020 spanning industry sectors).