Majority of SMEs confident about economy for rest of the year, survey shows

Positive outlook for businesses, with 50% of people saying they plan to recruit new staff members

Stephen Noonan, acting head of ACCA Ireland, credited the Government interventions which helped SMEs through the recent crises and enabled them to plan for the future. 

The majority of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are confident about the economy going into the second half of the year, a new survey by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) has found.

According to the survey, 86% of SMEs are either confident about the economy or more confident about it for the second half of the year compared to the first half.

The survey was conducted on 250 professional accountants who advise more than 5,000 businesses across the country.

It reflected a positive outlook for businesses as well as the wider economy, with 50% of people saying they plan to recruit new staff members and 44% maintaining the same level of employment.

Stephen Noonan, acting head of ACCA Ireland, said SMEs had faced “significant challenges” over the past six months but various Government interventions, such as the Temporary Business Energy Support Scheme, have helped them ride out the worst of the crises while planning for the future.

The survey also found 81% of SMEs would be able to cope with an increase in interest rates — underlying the resilience in the sector — with the majority of them being able to keep up with all repayments and costs in the next six months.

However, more than half of those surveyed said the increasing cost of doing business has had an adverse impact on sales or customer volumes. 

The biggest concerns in the coming months ahead was staff turnover, cited by 50%, and high levels of inflation, cited by 40%.

Mr Noonan added it was vital SMEs could access a skilled workforce to enable them to prosper and grow.