West Midlands’ mid-sized businesses grow at fastest rate
West Midlands mid-sized businesses are growing turnover faster than the region’s large and small businesses, according to new research.
BDO said that during the last year, mid-sized businesses in the West Midlands increased turnover by 6% to £93bn from £87bn. Turnover growth for FTSE350 businesses in the region increased at a slower pace by 3.7% to £22bn from £21bn.
Small business turnover growth in the region was also slower growing at 4.25% to £10.9bn from £10.5bn.
Yet despite having such an impact in the West Midlands mid-sized businesses risk being overlooked as the UK prepares to leave the EU, the advisory firm’s ‘New Economy’ report suggests.
Richard Rose, Lead Partner for BDO in the Midlands, said: “High-growth mid-sized businesses are the backbone of the West Midlands economy. They contribute jobs, revenue and profits to our region yet, because they are so hard to define, they are overlooked and undervalued.
“With Brexit and more uncertainty looming, this is the time for the Government to engage with this part of our economy and draw on their natural energy, ambition and entrepreneurial spirit to create a ‘new economy’ and help the UK succeed post-Brexit.”
With so much uncertainty facing the UK, BDO has called on the Government to prioritise the needs of mid-sized companies as one of three areas that policymakers must get right in order to create a ‘new economy’ that can thrive in the post-Brexit environment.
The three areas in the ‘New Economy’ report that BDO is calling upon the Government to focus on are:
• Encourage the UK’s fast-growth mid-sized businesses (the UK economic engine)
• Create sector and geographic powerhouses
• Ensure open and simple access to global markets and talent
The report’s proposals – which suggest 22 policy recommendations – include a call for the Government to choose ‘simplicity over subsidy’ for the UK tax code, helping to simplify the tax system to support mid-sized companies; to cut through red-tape and commission ‘shovel-ready’ infrastructure projects that bring immediate economic impact; and battling hard to retain a variant of the financial services passport which is a core pillar of the UK’s economic success.
