The UK’s small business economy is expected to grow by nearly a fifth in total by 2025, but some areas are predicted to grow much quicker than others.
The predictions result from a survey by Hampshire Bank Trust and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR).
The CEBR research predicts that alongside the growth in the value of SMEs to the economy, the total number of SMEs in the UK will pass the one million mark in the coming years, with 1,022,200 predicted to be in business in the UK in 2025.
Meanwhile, it is predicted that SMEs will provide an additional 800,000 jobs in the UK economy over this period.
However, the research does not predict a uniform level of growth across the country. While Manchester and Leeds-based SMEs are predicted to grow their SME economies by 26 per cent from 2016 to 2025, another northern city, Sheffield, is predicted to see SME growth of just 14 per cent over the same period.
The London-based SME economy is by far the largest in the UK and already accounts for £152 billion of the UK’s £202 billion SME economy. It is expected to account for nearly £30 billion of the predicted £39 billion growth in the sector by 2025.
The research also quizzed SMEs on their expectations about the likely impact of Brexit, with more than one in three saying their growth expectations were lower than they were before the referendum. This compares to just one in ten that said the opposite.
Link: Britain’s small business economy predicted to be worth £241bn by 2025
