Just keep swimming – why it’s business as usual for UK firms

In the first of an occasional feature, Karl Lanham of King’s Lynn firm Complete Commercial Finance discusses economic challenges…Despite ongoing economic challenges, UK firms remain confident in the outlook for their own businesses.Positive growth is something we all aspire to in business, and 2025 was forecast to be the year that the UK’s economy would improve. Yet the first few months have been tricky with consumer confidence wavering, inflation remaining stubbornly high and the imminent increase in National Insurance contributions set to be a heavy burden for many employers to shoulder.

As chancellor Rachel Reeves took to the floor in the House of Commons to deliver her spring statement on March 26, the news that the UK’s inflation rate had fallen slightly to 2.8 per cent provided a small chink of light in an otherwise sombre financial outlook, with the Office for Budget Responsibility downgrading its prediction for growth to just one per cent this year.Despite this, UK businesses remain surprisingly upbeat about their own performance. An annual survey of 1,500 business leaders by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) recently reported that 83 per cent of respondents across the country state that they are ‘confident’, and 39 per cent ‘very confident’, about their performance over the next year, with 56 per cent predicting their profits will grow.Almost a third of those surveyed cited concern about higher taxes on the horizon and, while there is clearly a disconnect between business leaders’ attitudes towards their operations and the wider economy, the resilience of UK businesses is encouraging to see. Interestingly, in the BCG survey, 87 per cent of leaders surveyed said that they plan to invest in their business in the coming year, and it is in this area that firms of all sizes can heed a valuable lesson. Investments are fundamental to the growth and success of a business. They enable a strategic approach where the workforce is nurtured and a brand can be evolved, which in turn contributes to sustained, long-term success. Key to investment is funding and a separate Business Finance Review released last month by UK Finance reports that more SMEs are using commercial finance as a way to grow their operations.In the study, UK Finance reported that gross lending rose by 13 per cent year-on-year to just over £16bn in 2024 with notable increases in new lending to agriculture, real estate, health and recreation – key sectors for our region’s economy. Just under 45,000 loans were approved – up 23 per cent year-on-year – and just under 59,000 overdraft approvals were granted, up 47 per cent, in 2024. Asset finance, invoice discounting and merchant cash advances are all highly effective finance products to help companies protect their cash flow as they invest in expansion. With increasing competition among lenders, 60 per cent of SME loans now come from outside the main high street banks, and with an increasingly sophisticated range of funding options available, a finance broker such as Complete Commercial Finance can help to navigate the right product for each company. Lenders are ready to support UK businesses and for those with the vision, confidence and determination to invest in their operations, there are good opportunities to unlock growth, innovate and improve profitability as we weather an uncertain economy.– Visit ccf.finance or call 01553 611619 to speak to Karl Lanham and arrange a free business finance review.