SME poll results

A poll conducted by Bondholder Dains Accountants shows that health and safety is the most pressing concern among businesses emerging from lockdown.

Dains Accountants and other members of the UK’s leading legal and accounting membership group, the UK200Group, have undertaken a poll with 550 SME clients.

The results show that 276 are concerned about health and safety, 249 about cash flow and 223 about getting clients to buy.

Richard McNeilly, Managing Partner commented: “It’s the uncertainty of reopening a business, with all the related complexities that it entails, that businesses are worried about now. They are confident about how to get their basic operations back up and running, but need clarity about how they should be protecting employees and customers, and getting customers to buy from them. It is also important to note that while the extension to furlough funding is plainly welcome, the longer businesses remain closed the higher the chance of them not surviving.

“SMEs have indicated through this poll that they need more guidance about how it will impact them and how they will be measured. This ranges from using PPE to managing social distancing in environments that were not designed for pandemics.”