Insurance costs our biggest threat, say small firms

NEARLY 80% of small companies say wages are unsustainable, while 92% say insurance costs are their biggest threat, according to a survey

These are the top two problems of the 12 most negative factors in the survey, impacting on the ability of small business to invest, develop, expand and create new jobs . The survey was distributed to a sample 3,500 of the SFA’s 8,000-member companies and 1,014 companies responded.

The sample was drawn from manufacturing, distribution, retail and services sectors and from a regionally representative sample. The results show that insurance costs and labour costs are by far the two most significant issues affecting small business at a micro level, with 21% of respondents citing insurance costs as their biggest difficulty and 15% of respondents citing labour costs as the most significant problem for business confidence.