Cash flow
Percent of UK small businesses that are cash flow positive
Over the past year, on average 49.7 per cent of UK small businesses are cash flow positive in any given month, with incomings and outgoing highly variable at different times of the year.
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Getting paid
Average number of days for a UK small business invoice to be paid (30-day term)
The average delay for these payments over a year was 40 days, with the worst months for late payments typically falling in the first quarter of the year.
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Hiring people
Percentage change in the number of UK small business employees
March was 2017’s highest employment growth month at 2.88 per cent - coinciding with March being a relatively high-cash flow month - while the worst months for employment growth are October to December.
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Trading overseas
Percentage movement in the total sterling value of imports vs. exports
Leading up to the Brexit referendum in June 2016, our data revealed decreases in import growth rates, with the year-on-year (YOY) growth rate in April 2016 hitting a high of 30.58%.
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Cloud adoption
A breakdown of the top 5 UK industries adopting Xero
Professional Scientific and Technical Services, and Construction industries adopted Xero more than any other sector in the year through 30 September 2018.
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UK | Reporting period: December 01, 2017 - December 31, 2018
Published: February 8, 2019
Next publish: March 11, 2019
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Small Business Insights: helping small businesses grow
by Gary Turner, Managing Director
Xero Small Business Insights provides a monthly snapshot of the UK’s small business sector. Taking anonymised, aggregated data, it provides insights into four key areas of small business health: cash flow, getting paid, hiring people and trading overseas.
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