‘Too few firms applying for finance’
The latest business monitor from the Newry-headquartered organisation shows a mixed bag of results; with 70% of firms admitting to not having developed any new products or services in the past three years; instead spending their money and time on a mix of cost-cutting and sales growth, rather than product development.
It also found that only just over two in every 10 companies are tending to apply for new financing; however, it did note that of those who are, few are reporting that they are unsuccessful in their applications. The main problem, in this regard, seems to be a lack of awareness of available support schemes from state agencies.
“It is interesting to see that of the companies that have applied for finance, few have been unsuccessful; yet we still see only a small number applying,” said Aidan Gough, InterTrade Ireland strategy and policy director.
“There are many government schemes that are there to assist SMEs with financial support, and I urge business owners, that are considering applying for finance, to research fully the alternative support networks and schemes that are available to them,” he added.
Meanwhile, the latest edition of the quarterly monitor also showed that 79% of businesses have reported similar or decreased sales levels for Christmas 2012, compared to 12 months earlier.
Those companies who either export or have cross-border sales activity were more likely to report increased sales and less likely to be affected by new competitors to the market.
One big positive from the latest survey is that manufacturing and business services companies are outperforming the market, with those areas seeing large year-on-year increases in the numbers of firms reporting sales growth.
Manufacturing and business services companies are also optimistic about the year ahead, with expectations to continue to increase sales and staff numbers.
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