More than eight in 10 (81%) of UK small businesses are prioritising new initiatives to boost their overall growth prospects for 2025. Increasing new business sales (43%) and reducing fixed costs (24%) are priority areas business owners want to focus on — but there is also evidence the recent changes to employers’ National Insurance could significantly impact recruitment plans. Nationally, only 7% of small businesses surveyed are prioritising making senior hires for 2025 – and only 9% of small business owners plan to hire young people that they can train and develop.
The findings are from the latest quarterly Business Barometer study by
Novuna Business Finance, and the data suggests the firm resolve by small businesses to invest in business development for 2025 follows resilient growth forecasts for the last quarter. Nationally, the percentage of small businesses experiencing quarterly growth stands at 35%, and the period since July 2024 represents a two-year high in small business growth forecasts.
Regionally, growth planning for 2025 is being driven by the same regions that reported a strong growth outlook for Q4 2024. Small businesses in London (94%), the West Midlands (83%) and North East (83%) are most likely to be investing in future growth projects for 2025 – and these were the same regions that have enjoyed an upturn in growth forecasts in the last quarter.
By industry sector, small businesses in the media (92%) and manufacturing (90%) sectors are most likely to be prioritising new growth initiatives for 2025 — and the Novuna data shows there are year-on-year increases across five industry sectors — manufacturing, construction, retail, media and agriculture.
Jo Morris, head of insight at Novuna Business Finance, said: “A lot of attention in recent weeks has been on the recent Budget – and while our data suggested that 86% of UK small business owners were fearful of Budget announcements, in truth small businesses finished 2024 in a resilient position.
“The percentage of enterprises predicting growth has been at a two-year peak since July and, on top of this, a huge proportion are already prioritising growth projects to invest in for the year ahead. At Novuna Business Finance, we are committed to helping established businesses to fulfil their true potential to ensure the resurgent confidence of small businesses can be further built on in 2025.”