SMEs confident on growth despite late payment concerns, Premium Credit finds

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) remain confident about growing revenues over the next year despite ongoing concerns around cashflow and late payments, according to research from Premium Credit.

Premium Credit’s Insurance Index found that 83% of SMEs expect revenues to rise over the next 12 months, with more than half (53%) predicting increases of up to 10%.

The research also found that late payment of bills and invoices is becoming a growing issue for businesses, with 38% saying the problem has worsened over the past year.

Just 16% said issues linked to late payments had improved during the same period.

According to the research, 39% of SMEs plan to launch new products and services over the next year, while 35% intend to expand into new markets.

Around 29% said they had successfully reduced costs, while 27% said they were hopeful cost of living pressures would ease over the coming 12 months.

Premium Credit said new measures introducing a 60-day cap on payment terms for large firms paying smaller suppliers, alongside mandatory interest charges for late payments, could provide some support for SMEs.

The research also found that domestic and global economic uncertainty remains a concern for some firms.