Housing and Transport Landscape Creating Challenges for SMEs

With a Labour Government in Westminster, a new SME State of the Nation report from iwoca sets out the major public policy challenges facing the UK’s small and medium-sized businesses.

As planning reforms get underway by the Government, four in ten (41%) small business owners believe that the housing crisis in the UK is having a knock-on impact on their firm.

The research from iwoca, one of Europe’s largest SME lenders, finds that a fifth (22%) of small and medium-sized companies say housing shortages are directly affecting their ability to attract and retain staff, nearly doubling to 38% for SME owners based in London.

Property challenges are not limited to housing, with half of SME owners (48%) also experiencing rising commercial real estate prices.

The state of Britain’s transport infrastructure causing problems for small companies

Britain’s poor transport infrastructure is particularly impacting SME owners, and six in ten (58%) report that it is negatively affecting their company.

As the Government commits to fix 1 million potholes a year, poor road conditions are the most common transport issue, affecting a quarter (25%) of small businesses, followed by a fifth (22%) citing delayed or cancelled trains.

With four bills in Labour’s first King’s Speech focusing on overhauling Britain’s public transport, SME owners also back reform. When asked about the UK’s public transport system, over half (52%) of SME owners think it isn’t reliable or fit for purpose

Worsening healthcare leading to SMEs considering private health providers

Healthcare is also a major challenge for Britain’s smaller businesses, and seven in ten (68%) SMEs believe that the quality of healthcare in the UK has become worse in the last year.

The impact on people working in the UK’s 5.5m SMEs is significant, according to owners of small companies, with nearly two-fifths (37%) saying their staff have struggled to access the healthcare they need in the last twelve months.

The data from iwoca shows that this is leading to nearly a third (28%) of businesses considering offering private health insurance to their staff as a benefit.

Mark Di-Toro, Director at iwoca, said: “The new Labour Government is already calling the UK’s 5.5m SMEs the beating heart of the economy and has put growth at the centre of their plans. Improving the UK’s public services can play a key role in addressing the challenges that small and medium-sized companies face. Tackling issues in housing, health and transport will help more companies to grow and help them to attract and retain the staff they rely on.”