A new report shows that 75 per cent of businesses have seen growth in the last three years, with over a third saying that they are offering new products and services.
The Business Without Barriers study, conducted by the National Business Awards, surveyed 500 UK business leaders about their growth plans and more than half said that they were “confident” or “very confident” about growth for the year ahead when compared with 2013.
Other major factors to support business growth were seen as adapting and updating existing business plans and upgrading IT infrastructure, while almost one in five have invested in marketing and PR and increased their social media presence.
However, only one in ten have invested in customer research and fewer than one in five admit that they have not put any plans in place to support and encourage business growth.
The survey also found that 70 per cent of business leaders said their growth is hampered by one or more factors. Of these, almost a quarter cited red tape as the biggest barrier, whilst a lack of investment caused difficulties for over 20 per cent of respondents.
Meanwhile, as far as international growth is concerned, 40 per cent of respondents said that they already export outside the UK and 80 per cent said that exports are the key to the country’s future prosperity, seeing traditional EU markets, such as France and Germany, as the best options for growth, followed by China and India.
Regionally, London has seen the most growth, however businesses in the Midlands and South West have also seen encouraging signs in the last three years, while the industries that have experienced the biggest growth have been the finance, travel, IT and telecommunications sectors.