In 2020, the UK saw 800,000 new SMEs set up both prior to and during the Covid-19 pandemic. Throughout this time, small businesses have had to be agile, adapting to working from home, the need for flexible working, and taking advantage of the opportunities the pandemic and our increasingly digital age has presented.

Introducing remote working, these companies successfully adapted to the new landscape and many have seen immense success, all while developing resilient cultures at their firms.

With the government announcing that corporation tax will rise from 19% to 25% on a sliding scale so as to support SMEs going forward, the development of Help to Grow schemes to continue SMEs on their current trajectory, and dramatic increases in public trust of small business, SMEs are set to change the cultures set by huge corporations forever across industries.

These trends suggest that now, indeed, could be the best time to challenge industry norms and develop as a small business:

66% of Brits say that their trust in small businesses and service providers has grown during the pandemic (29,607,000)
More than a fifth (22%) of decision makers are looking to hire more employees or consultants this year in order to grow (2,561,000)
19% of UK workers who work at a small business have won previously inaccessible, large clients and grown as a business through Covid (3,687,000)
Over a quarter (26%) of workers at small businesses feel they have been successful during covid-19
(nationally representative research carried out across a body of 2100 respondents, in full compliance with British Polling Council guidelines)

Chris Biggs, Partner at Theta Global Advisors – an accounting and consultancy disruptor – comments on the unprecedented success of small businesses in the last year and how 2021 is gearing up to see this continue on its current trajectory:

“With companies adopting new policies and a substantial number of SMEs planning to expand in 2021, as well as the Government’s support of these expansions with sliding corporate tax scales and Help to Grow schemes, it seems that as we saw over Covid-19, 2021 is an optimum time to be a small business.

To small businesses, this is great news, with increased public support and new, large clients allowing them to change the landscape and culture in their industries previously dictated by corporate giants.

In our concerns for what the future looks like for businesses with lockdowns, returning to offices, and economic recovery, we must not forget the success, innovation and resilience of small businesses in the UK. We need to continue to support these SMEs on their current growth trajectory as we return to a degree of normalcy.”