10 Barometer stats that caught our eye
BLOG07 Sept 2022
At Close Brothers we frequently survey members of Ireland’s small and medium sized business enterprises on a wide range of topics, from their thoughts on the cost of doing business to the health of the economy.
Following the release of the latest SME research, we pick out 10 stats that caught our eye…
- Cost of fuel, supply of materials / stock, and staff pay rises have had the most impact on businesses’ income
- Achieving growth is the main priority for a third of Irish businesses
- 61% of Irish firms have noticed a disruption in supply of materials as a result of events in Ukraine
- Half of Ireland’s SMEs have been negatively impacted by rising inflation
- 51% plan to raise wages to help their employees keep pace with the cost of inflation
- 42% of businesses plan to seek funding in the coming 12 months
- 60% of business owners believe taking out funding to protect cashflow is a good business strategy
- The top five things businesses would spend funding on are:
- Employing additional staff
- Investment in new assets
- Paying overheads
- Protecting cashflow
- Mergers and acquisitions or management buy-outs
- Brexit is negatively impacting 85% of Irish SMEs’ ability to trade
- Three quarters of Irish business owners are expecting to invest in technology in the next three years
