Business Sentiment Index: Professions sector cautiously optimistic about 2024
- 84% of professions intend to invest in their business in 2024
- 58% have missed a business opportunity because of a lack of finance
- 49% expect their business to expand in the coming 12 months
Braemar Finance has launched a Business Sentiment Index (BSI), which measures and tracks SME business confidence among the professions, including Dental, Veterinary, Optical, Funeral, Pharmacy and Care Homes. The score is calculated based on the results of various key indicators, including firms’ appetite to invest; their confidence in the UK economy; economic outlook, and their expected business performance in the coming 12 months.
Close Brothers Asset Finance – of which Braemar Finance is a part – has run its own BSI since 2020, and comparisons will be made with the results from the longer-running BSI. 1,207 senior members of the professions took part in the survey conducted by market research specialists, Censuswide.
With a score of 25.5, the professions are more optimistic than the wider SME community, who scored 21.75 in the most recent survey. For context, the score of 21.75 is the highest achieved in two years following various headwinds faced by small and medium-sized firms, ranging from high inflation and rising energy costs to interest rates rises and cost of funds.
Appetite for investment
The appetite to invest in their business among the professions is strong, with 84% of respondents aiming to seek funding for investment in the next 12 months. This is higher than the 73% achieved for the wider SME community.
Missed business opportunities
At 58%, the number of professions who have missed business opportunities because of a lack of available funding is higher than in many other sectors; the UK average is 41%.
This result highlights the importance of business owners to investigate the different funding options available to them.
Economic outlook
From a macro-economic perspective, the professions are more optimistic about the UK’s economic prospects as their counterparts in other sectors.
Looking back over the past two years, this indicator has contributed most to the decline in the overall BSI - in November 2021 75% of respondents were positive about the economy; by December 2022 this had fallen to just 36%.
Predicted business performance
Predictions about future business performance are – considering the various challenges business owners have faced over the past few years – positive, and points to the resilience of the professions sectors.
Around half of the professions polled expect their practice to expand during 2024, compared to 6% who think they’ll contract; 44% anticipate they will ‘stay the same’ and only 1% think they’ll close down.
Score calculation
The Braemar Finance BSI is based on the views of 1,207 business owners and senior members of the UK’s professions’ community and calculated from data charting their:
- Appetite for investment in their business in the coming 12 months
- Access to finance and whether they’ve missed a business opportunity through lack of available finance
- Views about the UK’s economic outlook
- Thoughts on their likely performance in the coming 12 months
