The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has today revealed new statistics that show the UK economy has grown by 6.6% in the month of July. This news will be welcomed by many businesses owners as consumers regain their spending confidence.
The UK’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been affected massively by the COVID pandemic, but many have also been able to pivot quickly and diversify their service offering to see them through the period. There is no doubt that government aids such as the furlough scheme and Eat Out to Help Out initiative will have given the economy a boost, but as these schemes end private investors will be key to ensuring this growth continues.
Luke Davis, CEO and Founder of SME investment firm IW Capital, has commented on options that small businesses should look at to scale and grow despite the COVID recession:
“This has been a turbulent period for many businesses across the country, one not experienced for generations, so help and assistance to scale and grow a business out of this time may seem difficult. However, help from government-backed schemes, such as the Coronavirus Business Interruption loans and the furlough scheme, and from the private sector has been crucial for many small firms over the last six months.
There are fantastic businesses across the country with a huge amount of growth potential that may be slipping through the net if they do not receive vital growth funding when they need it. Therefore, we are actively looking to invest in these regions and are looking into employing investment directors specifically for each region.
State-sponsored initiatives and infrastructure investment will be key to giving businesses confidence, but most of the funding is likely to come from private sources. And given that bank lending to SMEs remains a key issue limiting growth, private equity through schemes such as the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) will be crucial to unlocking the growth potential of these firms.
The small business community and its success is as important to the economy as anything else soon. With an economic contribution of over £2 trillion, the success of the UK economy may in future hinge on the prosperity of SMEs, start-ups and high-growth firms. There is a fantastic range of innovative, growing SMEs that we work with which are likely to drive our private sector forward in the coming years.”
For more information visit: iwcapital.co.uk
For more Banking & Finance news follow The European.
Follow us on
