Nucleus Commercial: 2.67m SMEs could close

Research conducted by Nucleus Commercial shows that 2.67m UK SMEs predicted they would be out of business within a month if they were unable trade.

Nucleus Commercial: 2.67m SMEs could close

Research conducted by Nucleus Commercial shows that 2.67m UK SMEs predicted they would be out of business within a month if they were unable trade.

Nucleus Commercial asked the question just prior to the coronavirus pandemic taking full effect.

This number of SME equates to 47% of all SMEs across the UK.

On a regionally basis, 58% of SMEs in the West Midlands and 57% of SMEs in London felt they would be out of business within a month following an event causing them to be unable to trade.

Despite this, 69% of businesses said they were confident about their cash flow prior to coronavirus, however, 6% would only be able to last a day, and a further 14% would be able to last up to a week, according to the firm.

Chirag Shah, chief executive of Nucleus Commercial Finance, said: “At a time of crisis, having access to finance is crucial.

“And, while recent developments, such as the £330bn of government-backed loans are welcome news for the industry, we need more clarity on how this will help in practice and which businesses it will support.

“Supporting UK PLC is vital to the growth of our economy, and in order to do this Government and industry must pull together and work collaboratively.”