British small businesses are upbeat about the effect of Brexit on industry, despite over half initially voting to remain in the European Union.
According to the latest research from small business lender Liberis, although 62 percent of British SMEs voted to remain in the EU only 41 percent said Brexit has negatively impacted their business so far. 65 percent confirmed that leaving the EU will not affect their ability to hire staff, but 27 percent said those in the ‘product sourcing’ and ‘services’ sectors had felt the impact of Brexit.
SMEs voting to leave or remain
Almost two thirds of those surveyed said they voted to remain in the EU, with the IT, online and marketing sectors comprising 77 percent of this total – more than any other sector.
Of business owners who voted to leave the EU, retail was the sector who voted to leave the most at 17 percent, suggesting that access to the free market might not be as important to UK retailers.
According to the survey, the highest earning businesses with a turnover of over £1,000,000 a year voted to leave the EU more than any other, at 30 percent. At the opposite end of the spectrum, 60 percent of micro businesses, with a turnover of up to £50,000, voted to remain.
Negative effects of Brexit
41 percent of those polled said that the triggering of Article 50 has had a ‘negative effect’ on their business. However, 54 percent revealed they haven’t felt any positive or negative effects on their business.
When asked which areas of their businesses have been negatively affected by the decision to leave, the majority, 47 percent, said “none of the above”, which included sales or leads, business relationships, bottom line, business development, product or service sourcing and hiring staff. However, 27 percent of SMEs surveyed said that product and service sourcing has suffered, with bottom line also being negatively affected by the referendum results at 24 percent.
Positive effects of Brexit
When asked which areas of their business have been positively affected by Brexit – including sales or leads, business relationships, bottom line, business development, product or service sourcing and hiring staff – 76 percent said ‘none of the above’ have been positively affected, with only 12 percent saying sales and leads have benefited.
The survey also found that 65 percent of respondents don’t believe leaving the European Union will affect their business’ ability to hire staff.
Imports and exports at risk?
Businesses, who said they import and export, were split on how leaving the EU would affect their ability to source products, services or materials at a reasonable price with 52 percent assuming a negative impact.
The research suggests thus far, SMEs appear to be dealing well with the uncertainty – that how big an impact Brexit will have on businesses in the future, however, still remains to be seen.