Welsh small and medium businesses predict strong festive trading period

Welsh SMEs are starting to feel more confident about the performance and resilience of their own businesses, despite challenges in the wider economy, according to the latest quarterly Barclaycard Payments SME Barometer.

Over half (54 per cent) of UK SMEs are expecting revenues to increase in Q4, compared with performance in Q3 2021. Yet despite concerns about inflation and rising bills are having a broader impact, 79 per cent of Welsh SMEs are feeling neutral or optimistic about the UK economy, 15 per cent higher than the national average.

As the Christmas shopping rush gets underway, data from Barclaycard Payments, which processes £1 in every £3 spent using credit and debit cards in the UK and services over 350,000 SMEs, shows that in the three months up to 31 October, transaction volumes among this group were up 38.1 per cent (versus 2019)*.

Encouragingly, following last year’s restrictions, the research also shows that over four in 10 (43 per cent) of Welsh SMEs predict the upcoming festive trading period will be their most successful since 2015.

Year-on-year payments volumes are also showing strong growth – up 21.9 per cent across the board – with the retail, food & drink and leisure & entertainment sectors benefitting from 15.58 per cent, 27 per cent and 54 per cent uplifts respectively**.

While consumer confidence has declined against a backdrop of inflation and rising utility bills***, business owners which anticipate a rise in revenue attribute this to: an expected boost in sales as they believe Brits will be having larger celebrations after spending Christmas 2020 apart from many of their families and friends (25 per cent), an increased preference for small businesses among shoppers (14 per cent) and customers choosing to spend more with small businesses (10 per cent).

Reassuringly, as Christmas shopping peaks, 8 out of 10 Welsh SMEs (84 per cent) have put measures in place to limit the impact of supply chain challenges, which includes 85 per cent of retailers when looking at specific sectors.

Looking ahead to 2022

The long-term outlook for British SMEs appears promising. While three in 10 (31 per cent) say the pandemic and associated restrictions was their greatest challenge of the last year, looking forward into 2022, just 11 per cent expect this to remain the most significant barrier to performance, while almost one in 10 (9 per cent) cite access to talent as a significant obstacle they expect to experience.

More than half of SMEs (54 per cent) believe the pandemic has helped future-proof their business and made them more resilient, as many look to invest in the year ahead. Close to four in 10 (36 per cent) plan to hire more staff, with businesses in Wales (47 per cent) being the most active in their recruitment drive. A further 29 per cent intend to upgrade their technology and more than a fifth (22 per cent) will extend their product range.

Colin O’Flaherty, Head of Small Business at Barclaycard Payments, said:

“It’s encouraging to see that small and medium businesses are feeling positive about their performance ahead of the festive period. While the overall economic backdrop remains challenging amidst rising prices, slowing economic output and muted consumer confidence, UK SMEs continue to impress me with their resilience and their focus on controlling what they can control to meet the needs of their customers as they’ve weathered the ups and downs of the past 20 months.

“While there may still be challenges that lay ahead, the data from our Barometer indicates SMEs are right to feel cautiously optimistic about the prospects of their own business as they head into 2022.”

Kate Hardcastle MBE, Business and Consumer Expert, said: “It is exciting to see that so many businesses feel they’re coming out the other side of the pandemic stronger, but they must remain cautious to the macroeconomic environment, which is vital as we head into what is typically their busiest trading quarter. This positive picture can be attributed partially to their agility and ingenuity, but also to the public, which has doubled down on its efforts to support small companies and their local high streets.”

The research, which polled 592 senior staff working in UK SMEs, found that overall business optimism scored 53 out of a possible 100 in Q3, up from a low of just 40 points in Q2 2020. This is the fourth highest level recorded (with Q1 2020, Q2 2021 and Q3 2021 recording 55 each), since the Barclaycard Payments SME Barometer started in February 2020, before the first lockdown.