UK GDP data: reaction from small businesses

"The light at the end of the tunnel started to get a bit brighter for me in April and May. April saw things start to pick up and in May I invoiced more than for the final eight months of 2020 added together. "I’ve also just delivered my first face-to-face workshop since March 2020. Leaving the house at 7am to drive to a venue and run a session for eighteen people in 3D rather than through a screen was quite a weird feeling. "As a sole director, I’ve had absolutely no support. The past 15 months have been incredibly difficult. It’s still tough out there but I’m starting to see some opportunities building."

"For us, in April and May, it felt as if the world was waking up. We are a training company and have gone from losing huge amounts of money last year to feeling extremely positive about our future. In fact, we've been inundated with requests and bids. "Our staff have come back from furlough but I can see potential huge issues ahead with people who have been furloughed for over a year: remotivating them, integrating them back into the workplace and getting their performance back to normal. "I also know organisations who have been hanging on to furloughed staff to give them an income but will not be able to re-employ them at the end of the scheme. My concern is that the unemployment figures will soar."

"Business appears to be absolutely booming and we're hitting the recruitment trail again this month, having already grown from two staff to 15 in the past year. May was comfortably our best month ever as a business and we've already nearly surpassed those figures for June. "Admittedly we are riding the crest of a wave with a very bouyant housing market for our main mortgage business but our new side projects like will writing and estate planning are generating profits already just two months after launch. "I'm incredibly positive about the economy. People have cash to spend and are keen to do so and, if you are an agile business ready to adapt to how the public want to deal with you (for example we were early adopters of zoom and embrace talking to our audience on social media), there is profit to be made. "Dinosaurs who won't adapt though are going to struggle. Maybe this is a good thing as it means more innovation and better outcomes for clients and customers alike. "We hear lots of talk about whether the roof is going to fall when furlough ends. Frankly I doubt it. It's so hard to find good recruits at the moment compared to a year ago. If anything, maybe the long-term furloughed will end up in the arms of progressive, agile and growing businesses."

"After a very hard and difficult few months the tail end of last year, we've been busier than Santa on Christmas Day, and will soon be recruiting to support that growth, which is a good feeling. "Equally, there's still a lack of trust across the business community with regard to what happens if there is another lockdown. Will businesses cope and, when furlough finishes, what is festering under that sticky plaster?"

"My business is absolutely BOOMING! Things were quieter towards the tail end of 2020, but come January 2021 companies were ready and raring to go. I think as so many businesses made their marketing teams redundant last year, they are now looking to fill those holes and are looking to agencies and freelancers to plug the gaps. "Although conscious that slower economic recovery may actually be better for my business, I'm positive about the future. I'm sure many other businesses feel the same, but no one wants to be the one to say it out loud."

"April and May saw our bookings return to pre-Covid levels, as business confidence continues to increase. "During the same period last year, we saw our bookings plummet by 60%, so April 2021 has certainly shown reassuring signs of life in the wider economy. "We have been fortunate enough not to have used the furlough scheme, but when it does end, some companies may, regrettably, not survive. "However, over the past year we have seen businesses embrace technology to facilitate growth, and these companies — the ones that have adapted and innovated — will continue to thrive. "The shortfall in materials, both raw and tertiary, is a problem. For example, in the technology sector, we’ve already seen pc and hardware companies unable to get microchips. It will likely result in galloping inflation. It's actually already here, which puts pressure on Governments. The big question will be what they do with the underlying interest rates. If they raise them, companies and consumers alike will feel the pain."

"I have had the best year financially since I started (2015) - but emotionally? Exhausting. The coronacoaster has been a terrifying ride that just keeps on giving. "Excluded from any support, it's just as well I was able to build on my previous track record to bring new clients into the world of tenders and grant funding (hardly any of the latter, a boom of the former) to secure them much needed contracts during this year. "April and May have seen a continuation of that trend, but I get the feeling that many SMEs are tired and still worried - we really don't have the reserves for another lockdown and we are very wary of the news. However, trying to be confident even when we are not sure, I hope our resolve and passion will win the day. SMEs are the lifeblood of the economy, after all."

"April and May have seen a return to high and healthy trading levels in the domestic cleaning sector, and we expect this to continue at least until late autumn when the furlough scheme ends. After that, who knows? "Overall, there is more confidence among customers, franchisees and staff and the result is longer term relationships as opposed to fickle and changeable one-offs. Long may it continue."

"As an SME providing software to the public sector, the seismic impact of Covid-19 on Local Authority finances is becoming ever more apparent. Huge budget cuts announced by councils up and down the country are having a massive impact on our business, and doubtless many other suppliers to the public sector. "Our lead time from quote to order has risen dramatically and is now running at twelve to eighteen months (a near 50% increase). This is due to an infinitely more stringent procurement environment across local government, as financial caution and budgetary constraints come to the fore. "Once again, a lack of funding is bringing into clear focus the long-standing unwillingness of successive governments to get to grips with the issue of properly funding social care and other vital services."

"Hopefully, life is getting back to normal and footfall will start to increase over the next few months. April was amazing when we first opened, but it has dwindled off again. I feel this is because customer are still a little nervous to be out and about. Also people's routines have completely changed over the past year. It will take time for them to start to shop locally again rather than online."