The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
SMEs urged to seize moment
A NEW report by banking group HSBC has warned Scottish small and medium enterprises (SMEs) they risked missing the boat by failing to bring forward investment plans.
The Ambitious Businesses report by the group’s Commercial Bank found that 71% of firms polled were actively planning for growth this year, and 56% of business leaders were confident in the current economic climate — a 19% rise on last year’s figure.
Two-fifths of Scottish respondents said the economy had improved in the last year, with competition increasing, and 41% said they risked falling behind the market if they did not invest in growth in the second half of the year.
However, the authors found that more than a third of Scottish firms still believed the environment was too risky to sign-off on significant investment programmes.
HSBC has loaned £300 million to support growth among Scottish businesses in recent months from it overall £6 billion SME fund.
Among those which have received backing from the bank is Kirriemuir textile manufacturing firm J&D Wilkie, which is planning to expand its core product range, personnel and premises to increase production capacity.
The privately held firm — which has been in business for more than 140 years — produces a wide range of products include 3D woven composites, filtration textiles and materials with a military application.
The company has also been pursuing opportunities within the oil and gas sector through its Wilkie Offshore subsidiary.
“As a company, we are more confident than we have been over the last two years that the economy is improving,” said joint managing director Jean-Christophe Granier.
“On the back of this, we’ve seen an increase in demand and invested in various parts of the business to meet this demand — notably, launching our new trading division, Wilkie Offshore, appointing new high quality management personnel throughout the company and group, as well as improving our IT systems.”
Amanda Murphy, head of business banking for HSBC, said: “There is still a sizeable minority of businesses that are understandably cautious about the recovery and reluctant to make significant investments now.
“These firms risk falling behind their more ambitious peers.”
Alison McGregor, CEO for HSBC in Scotland, said: “Our lending is up and the quality of the lending proposals we’re seeing from forward-thinking businesses shows they are looking to innovate, expand and seize the opportunities that exist in the global and domestic marketplace.”