According to recent figures, the impact of small businesses in Wales has decreased in relation to other parts of the country.
The figures were collected by Barclays and give a way of comparing how different regions of the UK perform with regard to small businesses. Last year, Wales came in at an impressive third place, however this year things have changed dramatically, with it coming in seventh and therefore moving down by four places.
The ranking is created by taking numerous factors into account, including innovation, employment increases, outlook and how many training schemes there are. These factors are assessed by performing in-depth questioning of something around 1,000 owners of small businesses, with analysis being performed by Kingston University.
The South East of England had the biggest fall in rankings, moving from fourth position to the bottom, while Scotland’s position remained unchanged within the year. It seems that the drop Wales experienced was largely due to lowered outlook forecasts as far as employment and profit potential go – as well as a lack of hope for training investment to keep going.
Looking at the specifics however, the result is not all doom and gloom as there were areas where Wales seemed to be doing better than last year, such as with regard to innovation and the use of local suppliers by Welsh businesses. These factors may provide a good means of allowing small businesses in the country to fight back next year.