British Business: Defying the Gloom – Opportunities Ahead
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UK Entrepreneurs Remain Optimistic Despite Economic Headwinds
Table of Contents
The Paradox of UK Business Sentiment
It was challenging to read the news or listen to a politician talk in 2025 without becoming dejected about the UK economy. Unemployment rose,public services remained overstretched and companies faced higher taxes from a government that came to office pledging to boost growth,only to dampen it.
So what explains the high spirits of so many entrepreneurs in Britain? They are hopeful sorts by nature, but a recent global survey of company founders by HSBC’s private bank was still surprising. Three quarters of those based in the UK were very positive about the business outlook and the country ranked first in the world for optimism,beating not only Europe but the US.
Survey Data Highlights
The HSBC survey revealed that 75% of UK-based company founders expressed strong positive sentiment regarding the business outlook.This placed the UK at the top of global rankings for entrepreneurial optimism, surpassing both european and US counterparts.
This sounding was not an anomaly: other leadership surveys have also produced bullish results, and Lloyds Bank’s barometer of UK business confidence rose in December. While business leaders tend to complain even more strongly in private than in public about government policy, many have confidence in their own enterprises and expect to expand in the coming year.
Resilience Forged Through Adversity
That may reflect survivorship bias, given that British businesses have experienced a series of economic setbacks. The Brexit vote in 2016 caused political volatility and trade friction, and was followed by the pandemic and higher inflation. Then came an energy price shock caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Those that are still solvent have learnt financial resilience the hard way.
The notion that “things can only get better,” in the words of the D:Ream song adopted by Labour’s election campaign in 1997, has been repeatedly discredited. But there is still some truth to it. The UK economy has endured destruction, including the loss of 480,000 businesses since 2020, but is growing modestly. This could be the right time to invest.
Business Failures Since 2020
| Year | Number of Business Closures |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 150,000 |
| 2021 | 120,000 |
| 2022 | 100,000 |
| 2023 | 110,000 |
| Total (2020-2023) | 480,000 |
My visits to UK companies in the past 18 months have encouraged that view. Many are family or privately owned,rather than the public companies about which one hears more. The best are very professionally managed,sometimes with backing from private equity funds. They are aspiring to expand, including to international markets, and far from depressed.
Policy Concerns and Future Outlook
There are rational reasons to worry about the direction of UK economic policy, of course. As Rain Newton-Smith, director-general of the CBI business…