Q3 2007 - Transport

Growth headlines

• In Q3 2007, 42% of smaller businesses reported growth in sales, 19% growth in employment and 22% higher investment. This is very close to Q2 2007 (sales 43%, employment 17%) and higher than Q1 2007 (sales 35%, employment 12%). Investment growth has remained steady at around 22%.
  
  

• Micro businesses continue to perform less well than small businesses. On balance, small businesses reported higher growth in sales, but employment and investment slowed. Sales and investment growth in micro businesses eased, and employment fell.
  
  
• The net difference between higher and lower sales has fallen from 17% in Q2 to 14% in Q3, as a slightly lower proportion of smaller businesses reported sales up and a higher proportion sales down. Increases in the percentage of smaller businesses reporting higher and lower employment moved the employment balance slightly higher, to 2% (from 1.7%), whilst the investment balance slipped to 7% (from 9%).

Main barriers to growth

• Taxation (including National Insurance) was selected by 74% of owner-managers as a barrier to growth, followed by employment regulations (63%) and business rates (59%).The top three key priorities for businesses were taxation (20%), employment regulations (15%) and business rates (11%).

Female entrepreneurs

• Female-led businesses have seen lower growth in Q3. 42% reported higher sales, and 38% lower sales; a net balance of 4%, from 9% in Q2. The employment balance for female-led businesses has recovered strongly, recording small growth in Q3.

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Download past reports (free)

Q2 2007 - Climate change

Q2 2007 Executive summary

Q1 2007 - Training in smaller businesses

Q1 2007 Executive summary

Q4 2006 - Employment regulations

Q4 2006 Executive summary

Q3 2006 - Banking services for overseas payment

Q3 2006 Executive summary

Q2 2006 - Access to finance

Q2 2006 Executive summary

Q1 2006 - Retirement planning for owner-managers

Q1 2006 Executive summary

Q4 2005 - Portfolio entrepeneurs and the tendency to sell

Q3, 2005 - Late payment

Press
Through coverage in the local, regional and national press, the SBRT seeks to highlight the concerns of small businesses. They work proactively by releasing press releases and also provide expert analysis and quotes to the media.
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Research
The SBRT works with academic institutions to analyse and investigate issues affecting small businesses. Central to this is the Quarterly Survey which, for over 20 years, has identified the key concerns of UK SMEs.
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About the APPSBG
The APPSBG is a cross-party group of MPs and Peers, set up to provide a forum for communication between smaller businesses and their representative organisations and members of both the House of Lords and House of Commons.
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