Major new report into state of small and high street businesses in the UK

AXA UK has today released a landmark report– in partnership with the Centre for Economics & Business Research—looking at the landscape of small and medium sized firms in the UK today. “Small Businesses: The Big Picture” explores the motivations of small business owners, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the biggest challenges facing SMEs in the coming months.

In the challenging times of the pandemic it seems younger business owners have been able to respond particularly strongly.  The oldest decision makers (55-64) faced on average 29% decrease in turnover. But this fell to 12% amongst 25-34-year-olds and to only 7% in businesses with decision makers aged between 18-24.

During the pandemic, the average business birth rate stood at 13% of the total business population – ranging from lows of 10.4% in Northern Ireland and 10.7% in the South West of England to a high of 15.7% in London.

Aston spoke to Deepak Soni, director of commerical at AXA UK.