Britain’s small and medium sized businesses have said they feel they are ready for auto-enrolment and have taken help from experts to get them ready, according to a study from Barclays Corporate and Employer Solutions.
The new research found that three quarters of SME leaders (75%) would prefer to control the implementation of auto enrolment, drawing on professional accountancy support where required.
This hands-on approach to auto enrolment, with expert input where needed, seems to be to be favoured by small and medium businesses.
This is backed up by data from the study ,which showed, that of the companies already signed up for auto-enrolment, almost one in three (29%) respondents had sought the advice of a professional, leading to almost two fifths (37%) feeling ‘completely prepared’ for the process.
It comes after the Pensions Regulator released its own research which found the predictions of widespread failure amongst SMEs to auto-enrol were in contrast to how companies actually felt.
It showed that despite having fewer resources than larger companies, SME decision-makers were confident in their ability to understand their requirements and make the right decisions, albeit with appropriate expert support in the necessary areas.
However, while SMEs show a responsible approach to auto enrolment, there is a growing concern that some may still be overly complacent about meeting the requirements of the compulsory scheme.
The study by the regulator showed almost three in ten (29%) SMEs who have not yet staged still do not know when their staging date is, and almost a quarter (23%) do “not know anything about the auto enrolment staging process”.
For those who have still not yet begun the process the prospect of doing it on their own may seem very daunting, but with the help of professional accounting expertise the stress of auto-enrolment can be reduced.