Small businesses are making big money for the UK economy, according to a study of the cities with the best potential for SMEs. Some £16 billion will be generated annually by the British cities which have the best growth prospects for SMEs, with more than 200,000 jobs created by 2020 in the UK economy, according to a report by npower Business and Capital Economics.
Bristol is a key SME city for the UK economy
SMEs are already keeping more than half of people in the UK in work, with 16.8 million people clocking in to one daily.
This size business accounts for almost four fifths of the increase in private sector employment since 2010, contributing significantly to the UK economy and employment growth.
Capital Economics expects the British economy to grow at an average of around 2 per cent over the next five years, despite the dampened national growth forecasts following the recent vote to leave the EU.
The npower Business SME Growth Forecast Index has identified the City of London, Bristol, Leeds, Birmingham, Brighton and Hove, and Manchester as the cities with best potential for SMEs in the next five years. Workforce skills, property costs, government policy and broadband speed are just some of the key factors that influence the underlying business environment that is vital for supporting SME growth.
How do we get Southampton into the list???——————————————————————————————————————————————-
Are you at the start up or scale up stage?
Go to our web site www.sbgn.co.uk
or contact us on 07545 982838
If the answer is ‘yes’ then we can help. SBGN is a network of small businesses who have been helping new and existing businesses with help support and advice. Starting your own busienss is becoming a popular alternative to employment or unemployment for people of all ages and it is not a difficult as it may appear.
Lily Arora (Unity 101) and David Vane(
Last July, we spoke to female business owners in the UK about the challenges they face when running a business. We found that the biggest challenge was maintaining a work and family life balance (40%), followed by achieving credibility for their business (37%). A third of female business owners also said they had experienced gender discrimination in the workplace, with this being more prominent in certain industries such as construction. These findings have helped 
Are you at the start up or scale up stage?
promote themselves over the last few years. But with so many different styles and formats it is a little daunting for new business owner to know where to start.
“Is there a difference between how men and women work in business” This was the questions put to Martin and Jane Samuel in our 16th programme of 
There are many away to research your business idea when you are starting up. Unfortunately many people don’t do enough research which can lead to problems – lots of competitors, p[ricing is wrong, not a clear idea of your market …
There were many good ideas but the final winners who were chosen by the ‘dragons’ were “Book Huggers” with an idea for a book mark which helped dyslexic people using coloured overlays, In second place was a group who had an idea for Bespoke Perfumed Bottles and in third place Fruiti Fresh Smoothies which used natural ingredients. All of the students had to elect officers (MD, Marketing etc) and then create a business plan and do research and create marketing plans as well as present the idea to their peers.
Room
the most difficult things that you will have to do! Once it was called ‘cold calling’ – the very words send people into spasms! So it was interesting to hear that it is all the fault of your mother or father! Benjamin says that we are affected by scripted programmed behaviour – we are brought up – not to talk to strangers, don’t interrupt … to always answer questions… and these disable the sales person on the phone (Yes you are a sales person if you are running your business) To hear more go to 
SBGN 