West Midlands SMEs looking to grow, but not internationally – HSBC survey

A SURVEY conducted by Ipsos-Mori for HSBC has found that small and medium-sized enterprises in the West Midlands are more confident of growth than any other UK region, but are unlikely to expand abroad.

Nearly one in five (18%) of firms in the West Midlands expect to grow by more than 20% this year – more than any other UK region but only 6% are likely to begin trading internationally in the coming year.

The survey, which investigates the attitudes and concerns of more than 1,000 firms in the UK, found that despite reticence to trade internationally almost half of firms in the West Midlands say finding new customers is one of their most pressing concerns.

Gary Burton, HSBC’s regional director of corporate banking in the Midlands, said: “It’s great that firms in the West Midlands are more bullish about growth than in any other region. I’d like more, however, to be looking to expand in to new markets to find new customers.”