More than half of small business leaders (58%) are expecting revenues to increase this quarter when compared to the first three months of 2023 – with an average revenue increase of 10% this quarter year-on-year, according to the latest quarterly Barclays SME Barometer.

As business owners look forward to the upcoming celebrations, SMEs across the hospitality and leisure sector expect the approaching bank holiday weekend to bring in an additional £180 million of revenue.

This follows a successful first quarter of the year (January 2023 – March 2023) for UK SMEs with more than half (56%) reporting a rise in revenue from Q4 2022, and 60% reporting a year-on-year rise in revenue from Q1 2022.

Similarly, small business optimism is at the highest level in a year, with 43% of SME leaders feeling positive about their future. Tech and science sectors are especially positive about growth, according to the Federation of Small Businesses.

These figures are supported by data from Barclaycard Payments, which processes one in three debit and credit card payments in the UK, which shows a rise of 1.4% in the value of payments to SMEs in Q1 compared to the same period last year.

Investing in Growth

Despite the increased optimism, wider concerns remain, as almost three quarters of SMEs (73%) say they are worried about the impact that the cost of energy will have on their business.

Furthermore, just over two-fifths (41%) say they will need to increase their prices to cover the costs, which will impact their competitiveness.

Yet, many SMEs plan to plough investment back into their businesses, following the expected rise in revenues. Almost four in ten (39%) businesses plan to increase their number of employees over the next quarter, resulting in an average of eight new recruits per business.

This is the largest expected increase in new hires for SMEs since Q1 2022.

Recommended

• DIGIT Leader Summit 2023 | The Making of a Leader
• What are the Key Benefits of Sustainable IT Infrastructure?
• Report: UK Tech Confidence Recovers, But Dark Clouds Loom

Colin O’Flaherty, Head of SME at Barclaycard, said: “It’s great to see that businesses plan to make the most of the Coronation weekend and are hoping to see increases in revenue – as consumers take advantage of the long weekend and enjoy eating and drinking out.

“It’s unsurprising that in the immediate term, there are still wider concerns for businesses, whether that’s energy prices or underlying cost of living issues. SMEs are the lifeblood of the UK economy and with a series of bank holidays coming up in May – it’s more important than ever to make sure we support local businesses at every opportunity.”