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While the business climate in Ireland is still extremely challenging, SME confidence appears to be on the rise, with firms in the sector growing increasingly optimistic about their opportunities to prosper.

Once this sense of confidence trickles down to consumers, the economy should experience a further boost, leading experts to believe that the economic picture in 2014 will be brighter than we’ve seen for some years.

We used the Close Brothers Business Barometer to poll Irish SME owners and managers about their plans for the coming year, and the results were largely positive.

Expansion plans

While a relatively low number of firms (16%) said they were benefitting from current trading conditions, Business Barometer results indicate that Irish firms feel confident that their fortunes are about to change.

In fact, more than a quarter of SMEs believe their business will expand in the next year, compared to just 18% last quarter.

We expect to see access to credit remain difficult but with 42% of firms stating that they’re aware of invoice finance and an even higher 63% aware of asset based lending (ABL) as a flexible finance solution, we may start to see a tide change in the way these firms fund their growth strategy.

Employment boost

A significant proportion (67%) of small and medium sized businesses in Ireland told the Close Brothers Business Barometer that recruitment is very much on the cards over the next 12 months.

Of that figure, 37% will hire full-time permanent staff and 16% will hire part-time permanent staff, with the remainder of posts being fulfilled by contract or freelance employees.

These figures could signal the beginning of some long-awaited economic green shoots, however SME bosses still anticipate challenges where recruitment is concerned.

Just under a third of those polled in the Business Barometer said they are worried about finding adequately skilled talent to fill their vacancies, while a further 8% likened finding the right people for their team to finding a needle in a haystack.

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