MANY have already had their say on the business challenges facing employers across the South East Midlands. Now there is an extended opportunity to air your views on market conditions in the fourth SME Business Survey.
Organisations across Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes, North Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire have already been giving their opinion on the issues affecting their profit, revenue, performance and investment plans. Not surprisingly, these are headed by rising costs, the skills gap, recruitment and retention, marketing challenges and imminent employment law changes.
Survey organiser HR Solutions and its partners Pulse Group Media – publisher of the region’s leading business newspapers Business MK, Business2Business and Business Times – and leading digital marketing agency qoob have begun poring over the responses. And such is the quality of participation by SMEs – recognised as the lifeblood of the UK economy – that they want to hear more.
That is why the survey organisers have extended the deadline for responses to December 15, in order to give as many SMEs as possible the chance to have their say and play their part in what is sure to be a comprehensive health check on the region’s economy.
HR Solutions chief executive Greg Guilford pictured right said: “It has been enlightening to see the shift in mindset of SMEs. Financial performance and securing new business were at the forefront of owner directors’ minds in 2023 and the more people that we can encourage to complete the survey, the better understanding we have on what support SMEs need right now.”
The more organisations that take part, the higher the quality of data on which the region can forecast the key factors affecting business and share insights on how to overcome the challenges, Mr Guilford added.
The survey is online now and is quick and easy to complete. “Please get involved and help us to help you and the other fantastic SMEs in our area,” said Pulse Group Media director Martin Lewis-Stevenson.
To take part in the 2023 SME Survey visit www.hrsolutions-uk.com/business-support/sme-business-survey by December 15.
“It is so important that the entire business community has the data to endorse their individual concerns and challenges in the current economic climate,” Mr Lewis-Stevenson said. “That is why Business Times and Business MK, the area’s leading business newspapers, are involved with this survey. We want to reach as many of the business community in Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes and Bedfordshire as possible in order to glean as much information as we can that will help businesses across the region to grow and thrive.”
The SME Business Survey first launched in the middle of the pandemic in 2020, and since then has provided powerful and valuable insights into the problems SMEs face in both day-to-day operations, workforce management and planning for the future.
HR Solutions uses the questionnaire data to produce a report addressing the issues raised and suggest recommendations for SME business owners to overcome the challenges.
“We believe in the power of collaboration and the importance of understanding the challenges that SMEs face, especially in these uncertain times,” said qoob chief executive Matthew Rigby-White. “We are committed to using our digital marketing expertise to help SMEs navigate their unique challenges and achieve their business objectives. This partnership provides us with an opportunity to gain deeper insights into the SME landscape, which will enable us to better serve our clients and contribute to the wider business community.”
