Small business owners in the UK are feeling more confident about the future compared to a year ago despite the tough economic climate persisting, a survey by American Express found.
Around 80% of business owners think they are well-equipped to grow their company over the next year, increasing by 13 percentage points compared to 2022.
However, one-third of the respondents pointed out that they felt headwinds had increased over the last year.
Inflation was the largest driving force of these setbacks, according to half of the business owners, while a quarter thought business rates and taxes had been the biggest setbacks.
Michelle Ovens, director of Small Business Saturday, said it was encouraging to see that confidence was increasing after a “tough year”.
She said: “Behind our nation’s 5.5 million small firms are real people who have shown phenomenal bravery, determination, and resilience in the face of all that has been thrown at them in recent years.”
At the end of June, the GfK consumer confidence survey improved for its fourth consecutive month to -24, outperforming the markets' consensus of -26.
July’s update is due for release next Thursday.