Research reveals one in five SMEs have changed recruitment plans as a result of successful vaccine rollout

• A further fifth admit they will be able to reverse planned redundancies

New research has revealed that nearly a fifth (19%) of SMEs in the UK are planning to recruit more staff for new roles following the UK’s successful vaccine roll out.

The survey*, which was commissioned by Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance, spoke to more than 1,000 senior business decision makers at SMEs across the UK from a range of different industries about how the vaccine rollout has impacted their business plans for the year ahead.

As well as an optimistic outlook on recruitment, a further 19% of SMEs also said they were planning to reverse redundancy decisions as a result of Britain’s inoculation programme.

The hospitality and leisure industry stands to benefit the most from the vaccine rollout with more than a quarter (27%) of those surveyed in the industry agreeing that they’re planning to reverse redundancies, while 23% of IT businesses, 22% of manufacturing firms, 21% of finance businesses and a fifth (20%) of construction SMEs agreed the programme had saved jobs.

Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance’s research also examined the impact of the country’s vaccine rollout on SME solvency and discovered many are feeling positive, with more than half of businesses surveyed (52%) hopeful they will stay open as the nation continues to be vaccinated at speed.

Commenting on the research, Andy Dodd, Managing Director at Hitachi Capital Invoice Finance, said:

“The UK is leading the way when it comes to vaccine rollout, and it's great to see the success of the programme is translating into business confidence for hundreds and thousands of SMEs.

Many employees up and down the country across a range of industries including hospitality and leisure, will be grateful for greater job security. The news that many businesses are now beginning to think about hiring new recruits is also a huge positive for the wider economy.”

Find out about the full range of support available to SMEs over at Hitachi Capital’s Cashflow Clinic.

ENDS

*Survey of 1,001 senior decision makers at UK SMEs. All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc.  Total sample size was 1001 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 22nd - 25th February 2021.  The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of British business size.