SMEs in the wholesale and retail sectors are less confident about the future than other sectors, a new study has found.
According to the first Magnet Regional Business Barometer (MRBB), 59% of retail/wholesale firms feel the year ahead will be positive, with 13% believing it will be negative.
In comparison, manufacturing and non-financial services firms were the most optimistic, with 74% and 70% respectively feeling positive about the future.
The survey found that businesses in Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary are the most confident about the future (73%), with Dublin coming second in terms of optimism (67%). Only 57% of firms in the Cork, Kerry area and 60% in the Border counties reported positive predictions for 2015.
Other findings include that while 1 in 10 SMEs plan to open new premises in 2015, firms of five staff or under are less confident and all feel that the government is not doing enough to support small businesses. Only 1 in 9 are aware of technology and business grants available, and 30% of firms are unclear about who their local public representatives are.
CEO of Magnet, Mark Kellett commented on the findings, “The low awareness of supports available to small firms is striking. The poor take-up of these schemes means more needs to be done by both Government and industry to educate the SME community of the supports available."
The MRBB is a survey of 600 SMEs across the Republic of Ireland by Amarach Research for cloud telecoms provider Magnet.
© 2015 - Checkout Magazine by Jenny Whelan.
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