SMEs must ready for recovery

Finance
Written by Gary Howes
Tuesday, 01 December 2009
Bank of Cyprus UK says almost half of UK SMEs have no business plan. New research from focused SME lender, Bank of Cyprus UK, reveals that almost half (46%) of British SMEs do not have a business plan. A survey of 500 senior managers from British SMEs, the engine room of the economy, revealed this sector is falling short in terms of adequate business planning, with larger firms (between 100-240 employees) being just as likely to make do without a plan as smaller firms (between 0-50 employees). Related Articles: SME financial backing announced Fighting Fire, Floods and Failure Infogroup: hiring levels constrained 2010 SMEs focusing on survival as bank finance remains tight SMEs must plan for crisis Related Links: Palo Alto Software - Business Plan Pro For the 54% that do have a written business plan in place, the most common timescale for the plan was 12-18 months (27%), although approximately one in ten (11%) had a plan which extended more than three years into the future. Tony Leahy, Head of Communications at Bank of Cyprus UK, said: “With the recovery around the corner, now is the perfect time for SMEs that have weathered the storm to take stock of their circumstances. Adopting a planful approach to the future can help ensure businesses are in a strong position to take advantage of the opportunities that will no doubt arise from a more positive economic climate. A business plan should not be seen as an optional extra, and all good relationship-based banks will be able to advise their customers on an appropriate plan structure. "In this respect, we know from experience of the businesses that we support that a ‘one size fits all’ approach does not work. We encourage our customers to talk to us so that we can help them draw up a plan that is right for their business. As well as providing direction and clarity around operational issues, a robust plan is also a distinct advantage should they need extra funds.” Worryingly, 41% of businesses said they did not have a plan in place purely because they had never thought to draw one up. Over a third (36%) felt their business was too small to warrant having one. Share this: digg del.ico.us Newsvine Reddit Furl technorati Facebook Comments (0) Subscribe to this comment's feed Post a comment Name (required) Email (required) (not published) Website Title By posting on this website you are agreeing to abide by our website comment policy and all posts are subject to the approval of the website editor. We will remove posts that contain offensive or threatening language, personal attacks on the writer or other posters, posts that are off topic and posts that are considered spam or specifically used to promote any commercial products or services. Any poster who repeatedly contravenes the policy will be banned from posting on the website.