Technology and broadband top investment priority for UK SMEs, says report

Access to faster and more resilient broadband will be top priority of 2015 for most UK SMEs.

In today’s digital world, connectivity is key to success and it seems the UK’s population of small and medium-sized enterprises concur, as 90 per cent of UK SMEs will look to gain access to faster and more reliable broadband in 2015, according to a report commissioned by the internet provider TalkTalk.

The survey of 1,000 UK SMEs found that 90 per cent of respondents believed that broadband was crucial to future prosperity, and a quarter of all SMEs put technology in the list of top five priorities to achieve growth in 2015.

Other top priorities were to grow revenues and to create a happy workforce.

“The beginning of a new year is a time for small business to plan for a prosperous 2015 and demonstrate the ambition that is needed for success,” said Charles Bligh, managing director of TalkTalk Business.

This research comes not long after the UK government extended its SuperConnected Cities scheme, which provides broadband vouchers to SMEs, as only 6,000 businesses in the UK had taken advantage of it so far.

Local regions aim to boost connectivity

It seems support for small companies to access the online world continues to grow. Even local regions are dedicating resources in a bid to boost online business.

For instance, the Superfast Leicestershire programme aims to bring superfast fibre broadband to as many local premises as possible.

Furthermore, the Leicester and Leicestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LLEP) has teamed up with its counterpart in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, D2N2, to secure £135,000 of funding. This package of support will be utilised for the creation or development of an online presence for around 5,000 local businesses.

“It is critically important we help businesses understand the benefits that new digital technologies can bring to boost economic growth and job creation,” said Cllr Pam Posnett, Leicestershire County Council cabinet member for broadband.

“We expect that our broadband investment will increase economic growth by £92 million by 2021,” she added.