Federation of Small Businesses claims confidence making comeback

Confidence is coming back to Scottish business, according to the Federation of Small Businesses.

Head of external affairs Colin Borland said news that almost all the country’s small and medium-sized enterprises plan to invest in growth during the coming year underlined a recovery in attitudes.

“These figures underline what our members are telling us confidence is coming back and investment intentions are firming up,” he said.

“But, to turn these intentions into real profit and growth, businesses need their banks to match their ambitions.”

Research conducted as part of Clydesdale’s Business Week suggested 94% of Scotland’s SMEs would invest next year.

Most said spending would be required to keep pace with demand, and firm targeting average investment equivalent to 8% of turnover.

“These are encouraging results and echo recent growth figures,” said Scott McKerracher, Clydesdale Bank’s regional director for the East of Scotland.

The news came after new statistics from the Scottish Government revealed how Scotland had a total of 340,840 SMEs as at the end of March, employing an estimated 1.1 million people.