November 21, 2013, by Kelly Cookson

UK SMEs and business advisers on Bank of England interest rates

The Haydn Green Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship runs two online UK business surveys: UK Business Barometer (UKBB) and UK Business Adviser Barometer (UKBAB). The results of the surveys are instantly processed and posted on their respective websites.

In the October 2013 survey, UK SMEs and business advisers were questioned about Bank of England interest rates.

The responses from UK SMEs were as follows:

The Bank of England recently made an explicit commitment not to consider raising its interest rate until unemployment had fallen to 7%, unless inflation appeared to be getting out of control or loose monetary policy was threatening the stability of the financial system.When do you expect interest rates to start rising?
2013	0%
2014	32.5%
2015	45.8%
2016	18.1%
Later	3.6%

 

How important is uncertainty about what will happen to interest rates to your investment and employment decisions?
Very important	18.1%
Important	22.9%
Moderately important	22.9%
Of little importance	25.3%
Unimportant	10.8%

Bernard Goodchild commented: “Whilst psychologically interest rates are considered a key issue and the media will always of course make a large headline report concerning them, in reality a 0.5% or 1% rise makes little difference to the majority of SMEs. This comment is made as only very few borrow more than say £100,000 and a 1% rise at this level is effectively £1,000 extra over a 12 month period – not a major influence on cash flow.”

 

UK business advisers were also asked about Bank of England interest rates:

When do you expect interest rates to start rising?
2013	0%
2014	26.1%
2015	53.2%
2016	11.7%
Later	9.0%

 

How important is uncertainty about what will happen to interest rates to your clients’ investment and employment decisions?
Very important	19.8%
Important	28.8%
Moderately important	30.6%
Of little importance	19.8%
Unimportant	1%

One adviser panellist commented: “The Bank of England base rate has very little impact on SMEs. The main impact is high street bank lending rates and the difficulties in securing a loan in the first place.”

More information about the UK Business Barometer (UKBB) and UK Business Adviser Barometer (UKBAB), including results and analyses, can be found on the web at www.ukbb.ac and www.ukbab.ac Businesses and advisers wishing to contribute as panellists on the project can register via the websites.

The UK Business Barometer has a group on LinkedIn and can be followed on Twitter @UKBB_UoN

More information is available from Kelly Cookson on 0115 846 6860, kelly.cookson@nottingham.ac.uk

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