SME Outlook: Tough Christmas trading conditions

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are expecting tougher trading conditions this Christmas.

Aviva’s bi-annual SME Pulse survey suggests that 45% of SMEs expect Christmas to be difficult this year as consumers are cutting back on their spending.

Roughly 40% of respondents said this year has been more challenging than they had projected at the start of 2010. Less than 20% are expecting good sales figures next month and 10% cent of small firms actually believes that this winter will be a case of “make or break”.

David Bruce, commercial product manager at Aviva, said: “Christmas is a crucial trading period, even more so with the VAT rise and government austerity measures hanging over consumer spending for the year ahead.”

He went on to say that although the UK’s small businesses are resilient, it looks as though the coming months will “test them to the limit”.

Christine Braddock, president of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, recently said that the current climate of high unemployment is the perfect time for job seekers to launch their own start-ups.