Legal Expert Calls On SMEs To Ensure Right Support Is In Place

By Rob Dixon

The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) latest SME Trends survey has shown some welcome signs that optimism is rising but also continues to demonstrate the ongoing fragility of the economy, according to business legal experts at Irwin Mitchell.

In the report, it was revealed total new orders continued to fall in the three months to July, while pressure on margins was found to have eased as cost growth slowed.

Looking ahead, it found that prospects for the next quarter were expected to be better with both output expected to stabilise and new orders set to contract at a slower pace. Investment plans for the year ahead are broadly changed.

According to Fergal Dowling, a Partner and business legal services expert in Irwin Mitchell’s SME Group, the research demonstrated some of the difficult conditions that the manufacturing sector is continuing to face.

He outlined: “It is very welcome to see that manufacturers are optimistic despite some of doom and gloom being seen in the latest figures. There is a clearly a hope that this times are changing and the sector is on the verge of improvement, something also highlighted by the expectations recorded in this report.

“However, the economy does remain fragile and this cannot be ignored. It will be vital for small and medium-sized manufacturers who are particularly optimistic and are seeing their prospects improve to ensure they have provisions in place to deal with any potential growing pains they may see over the coming months.

“The right support – whether legal or for other issues – is always a vital component to ensuring that companies are able to take advantage of opportunities for growth as and when they emerge.”

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