Two new studies suggest that UK small business owners are feeling more positive about their prospects and better prepared to face the challenges ahead.
A new survey by American Express has found that 68% of UK small firms feel that their business is resilient and 71% expect their business to grow over the next 12 months.
American Express' annual Business Barometer research, conducted in partnership with Small Business Saturday UK, has polled 1,000 senior decision-makers at UK micro, small and medium-sized businesses. The findings suggest that business owners are more resilient because they have adapted to a raft of external pressures in recent times.
The key results show that:
- 68% of SME leaders say their business is resilient and is prepared to withstand challenges;
- 69% are confident in their ability to recover quickly from setbacks;
- 71% believe they are resilient as a leader;
- 74% say seeking feedback and learning from how they dealt with previous challenges and has been key to building their resilience.
"Developing resilience - and looking particularly at how new technology can help drive this - is one of the best things that small businesses can do to secure their long-term success. We need to rally around the UK's 5.45 million small businesses to make sure they have as much support as possible." Michelle Ovens, director of Small Business Saturday UK.
This resilience is matched by growing optimism, with 73% of SME leaders confident in the future of their company, up four percentage points from last year.
SMEs investing in new technology
The research also suggests that UK SMEs are turning to technology as one of a number of strategies to further bolster resilience and drive long-term success, in addition to cost management and boosting marketing activity. Almost one in four SMEs (23%) are planning to invest in tech that helps drive process efficiency and automation; the same proportion (23%) have plans to introduce new payments channels, such as mobile or QR payments.
Artificial Intelligence is becoming a key strategic focus for SMEs - 49% of businesses polled have either integrated or are planning to expand their use of either Generative AI (generating new and innovative content) or machine learning (analysing data and making predictions).
IoD poll shows rise in business optimism
The American Express findings are in line with the latest Economic Confidence Index published by the Institute of Directors (IoD). It shows that there has been a rise in confidence among business leaders both in prospects for the economy and within their own organisations.
"It's good to see a recovery in business confidence underway, with our headline measure moving up three months in a row to its highest since August 2024. Looking at our underlying indicators, while investment intentions have also returned to last summer's levels, headcount expectations have dropped again and remain notably down. " Anna Leach, IoD chief economist.
The key indicators show a marked rise in investment intentions, revenue expectations and export plans. However, it also shows a small fall in headcount expectations. The top three factors having a negative impact on organisations remained the same as February 2025 - UK economic conditions, employment taxes and business taxes. Global economic conditions have jumped into fourth position.
Written by Rachel Miller.