Clarity by Quantuma: Winning strategies for SMEs

The programme includes a new report designed to support professional advisers and business owners, ‘Clarity in uncertain times’. This data rich report examines SME viability and vulnerability across sectors and regions. 

Safely navigate further economic turbulence

Comprising 99% of all businesses and accounting for almost two-thirds of private sector employment, SMEs play a crucial role in driving economic growth and employment opportunities in the UK. 

However, with their smaller workforces and lower cash reserves, SMEs have been especially vulnerable to the severe economic shocks of the past year. Typically, SMEs had fewer buffers to help them to withstand the multiple economic shock waves of the post-COVID era: supply-chain disruptions, higher input costs, the higher cost of capital, and the prospect of weaker demand arising from reduced business and consumer confidence.

Amidst the challenging and highly uncertain outlook for the UK economy as a whole, business and consumer confidence are likely to remain muted in the months ahead. This makes it critical for SMEs to take action in the areas within their control, such as starting to upskill the labour force and ensuring good access to financial advice and targeted financial support. Interventions like these can help ensure that SMEs are in the strongest possible position to withstand further economic turbulence.

Position for success and reduce the risk of failure

To support professional advisers and business owners and help them to navigate this challenging economic environment and unlock potential, we have developed our latest programme of powerful insights and customised reports powered by our unique data asset, Clarity. The programme combines forward-looking distress and growth indicators, an insolvency propensity model, and financial performance ratios to help SMEs to position for success and reduce the risk of failure.

Clarity takes data from multiple sources and then analyses and benchmarks that data to identify the sectors that are under the most stress and need help to recover and the regions that have fared better over recent years, and pinpoints businesses that have the greatest propensity for collapse and those that are set to grow. This provides advisers and business owners with a forward-looking, data-led view on the forces that are shaping the UK SME market so they can spot opportunities to grow their practice in specific sectors or regions. 

Over the coming months, we will continue to monitor conditions for UK SMEs and share further insights on how best to position a response to ensure the continued viability and prosperity of this vital segment of the UK economy. With the challenging and uncertain outlook for the UK economy, it is vital that businesses can take positive actions in the areas within their control.