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February 2022 - Business Support

A third of SMEs have debt levels of more than 10 times their cash balances: A survey of SME companies in the UK has revealed that 33% are in a position where their company debt is more than 10 times their cash balances, an increase of 19 percentage points since before the pandemic (14%).

The YouGov findings also highlighted that many SMEs are worried that their companies will not survive without support from the government and larger companies.

The research, which was commissioned by IRIS Software Group, also revealed that 20% of UK small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) would like further furlough assistance from the UK government, or similar grants to help sustain them in the coming months. Three in five (61%) would also like assistance from large PLC companies, which they feel could do more to support them.

When asked how the government and private sector funding could support them, 34% said they would like to see more support with modernising their company’s technology, with two-fifths (41%) saying they would like to see this happen within the next six to 12 months. SMEs would also like to have access to mentoring (10%) and business software (8%) according to the findings.

While the government has recently launched a scheme offering MBA-style management training courses for SME leaders and discounts on approved software, the research found that 79% of SMEs polled had not heard about the 'Help to Grow' scheme. Of the SMEs who were aware of the support, almost half (49%) said they do not know what level of support is available to them, while 10% said they have concerns about how relevant the support would be to their business.

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