Small businesses still experiencing inflationary pressures

Ireland’s smallest businesses are still struggling amid inflationary pressures and difficulties accessing credit, according to the Global Economic Conditions Survey (GECS), carried out by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA).
 
The country’s small firms have yet to show the same signs of confidence as their mid-market counterparts who are beginning to feel the benefits of the economic recovery.
 
Liz Hughes, Ireland chief at ACCA, said the confidence surge experienced by the country’s medium-sized firms comes with a clear note of caution.
 
"While many have confidence in the global recovery, the GECS analysis showed that those businesses were less confidence when it came to their own business project," she said.
 
"The underlying message seems to be that the outlook amongst SMEs in Ireland, while more positive, remains delicate."
 
The survey is based on responses from 313 ACCA Ireland members responding to the survey between the end of 2011 and the first half of 2013, including 84 small and micro companies, 52 medium-sized companies, 41 mid-market and 136 large companies.
 
While home-grown SMEs were among the least confident in the global economic recovery, there was a marked upturn in fortunes during the first half of this year. But that confidence boost was primarily influenced by a positive outlook from medium-sized and mid-market firms.
 
The survey also found disparity between the ways in which businesses responded to crisis. SMEs with fewer than 250 employees were less likely to make staff cutbacks or reduce investment in capital.
 
However, the survey found they were also less likely to identify a growth opportunity than mid-sized or large companies.
 
"It appears that as well as taking a bigger hit from the global economic crisis, smaller businesses are taking longer to find their feet again, and Ireland is a prime example of that," added Ms Hughes.

Date published 7 Nov 2013 | Last updated 7 Nov 2013