ACCA and CFN reveal financial trends from the UK SMEs in approaching 2022

By Joy Dumasia

ACCA (the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) and The Corporate Finance Network uncover that the UK SMEs are not receiving the support or financing they need to recover from the pandemic, leading to worrying financial trends such as a reliance on short-term financing like business overdrafts.

The data from the latest edition of the ACCA UK and CFN SME Recovery Tracker reveals that accountants believe that more than 1 in 4 (27%) businesses have still not returned to pre-covid levels of productivity or turnover. A massive 4 in 5 UK SMEs are not seeking finance to grow in the next six to 12 months when looking to the future. 

There are other indicators of UK SME stagnation as respondents report that there has been a 7% drop month-on-month in their business clients looking to hire new talent (22% in November 2021 Vs 15.2% in December 2021) and over a 4% increase in those expecting to make redundancies next year, now with over 1 in 10 businesses wishing to make personnel cuts (8% in November 2021 Vs 12.4% in December 2021). 

There has been close to a10% drop in the number of businesses expected to be still trading in 12 months, from 93% in November to 83.8% in December 2021. As well as this, a third (30%) of accountant practitioners responding from around the UK anticipate their clients will need to use their overdraft facility in the next six months. A further third (30%) expect their clients to apply for secured or unsecured business loans within the same time period, and nearly half (45%) expect clients to apply for eligible business grants, demonstrating that it is becoming a more difficult environment in which to do business.  

Claire Bennison, Head of ACCA UK, commented on the findings: “I’m extremely apprehensive about the trends this data has revealed on the state of UK SMEs. Not only for the businesses themselves, but these continuing financial issues are resulting in long-term damaging impacts on the wider UK economy. Our research revealed that financial restrictions are the number one reason holding businesses back from putting a sustainability strategy in place, while a whopping 30% of accountants believe their clients still have low levels of digital readiness.

“Without the right financial support for the SME economy, the UK as a whole is not going to move forward in becoming a leader in innovation either in technology or sustainability, and that is a concern.” 

Kirsty McGregor, Founder of The Corporate Finance Network, adds:” Looking ahead, there are some major impacts coming in the new year, including business rates increases, an uplift in the national minimum wage, and the new health and social care levy introduction in April adding up to 2.5% to payroll costs, all of which will have a further negative impact on these struggling SMEs. As we head into another period of increased COVID-19 restrictions, I am concerned about the future of the UK SME economy and call on the Government to review their policies to provide longer-term support until this period of uncertainty is over.”