Another day in the UK means another day of the cost-of-living crisis, which is continuing to bear down hard on the country’s businesses. Indeed, times have been so hard for many firms that 18% of small business owners or managers have admitted they have contemplated closing their business over the last 12 months.

That was one of the most eye-catching findings of a new survey reported by Business Lancashire, which found that the most common tactic resorted to by businesses in order to prevent closure and deal with the crisis, was putting up their prices. Some 42% of respondents said they had done this, while 31% claimed to have reduced their energy use, and 13% had increased business hours.

Other methods that the surveyed small firms said they had tried ranged from seeking new investment (13%) and operating their business remotely (11%), to reducing their workspace (9%) and extending their overdraft limit (7%). Such findings are certainly an indicator of just how determinedly small businesses are having to look for ways to keep afloat during these testing times.

A downbeat outlook for many small firms

So, what about the situation looking ahead? A separate report by LondonlovesBusiness shed light on firms’ attitudes, based on data from a recent poll of 150 established small and medium-sized businesses in the UK, operating across various industries.

For the purposes of this research, “established small and medium-sized businesses” were defined as those with between 10 and 100 employees. And the findings from the poll were hardly greatly encouraging, as more than two in every five (41%) of the businesses quizzed said they expected that the next 12 months would see them shut their doors permanently, close locations, or be forced to carry out mass redundancies.

Over a third of those questioned – 39% – expressed the fear that any forthcoming recession would fatally or critically impact on their business. Some 43% of the survey participants said they would be forced to borrow money just to keep their business afloat, or refinance existing debt (37%).

Given that this segment of the UK economy accounts for approximately 30% of the country’s jobs, the above findings hardly augur well for ‘UK plc’ if a prolonged economic contraction does happen – and reports have suggested that any such recession could last until the summer of 2023.

Talk to TS Partners about how our services could help you navigate these challenging times

The tests looming for UK business look ever-more intimidating to add to the turbulence that the economy has faced already, and it doesn’t seem that such challenges will relent any time soon.

The current and likely future economic circumstances make it all the more crucial that you have the right partners by your side, as you seek to guide your business through the storm. With our knowhow and experience at TS Partners encompassing every element from accounting and payroll to the best help with VAT assessment in Devon and Somerset, we can be a vital source of support for your business at a vital and delicate time.

Simply contact us today at our Wellington, Plymouth, or Newton Abbot offices for an in-depth discussion about how we can most effectively serve you, whatever your business’s sector, situation, and stage of growth may be.