With the majority of local and international media covering the affects of the economic downturn on big business and banks, 1^st Contact have decided to investigate how the current financial conditions will effect smaller, local businesses. 

Across the UK and Northern Ireland, there have been numerous reports by smaller companies that there are no planned redundancies. Some have even hinted to the possibility of expanding and taking on a larger workforce before the year is out.  

A recent report released as a result of research carried out by CIS (Close Invoice Finance) indicated the following about UK companies:

- 45% of smaller businesses are expecting to continue as normal, with no planned expansions but also avoiding the loss of staff

- Approximately 1 in 7 businesses hinted towards the possibility of hiring more staff

- Amazingly and despite the doom and gloom of ongoing job loss reports, only 4% of    those questioned mentioned the possibility of closing in 2009 

David Thomson, Chief Executive of CIS spoke about the recent findings: "There is no doubt that these are some of the most challenging financial conditions of recent times. But, as our survey shows, this sector is incredibly resilient ... even as the UK enters recession." 

Within the UK, there are doubts placed over how well smaller businesses will compete at the most difficult of times. What may be a rocky start is only anticipated for the first few months, in which time the industry will hopefully have overcome a seriously dire trend that is currently plaguing the country. 

A similar survey was carried out by Close Invoice Finance – Ireland which covered the Northern Ireland area and these results almost mirrored those of the UK:

- 46% of business expected to remain the same size this year- Out of those questioned, around 10% said they would possibly add to the existing workforce.

- As with the UK, some companies are expecting unavoidable closures before the year is out but overall, 8 out of 10 indicated that staff redundancies are highly unlikely.

- It has been revealed that around 25% of smaller companies are planning to expand in one way or another over the upcoming months  

Managing Director of CIS (Ireland), Harry Parkinson agreed with the sentiments of David Thompson, adding that “every day there are further gloomy predictions about the health of small and medium sized businesses. However, as our survey shows, this sector is incredibly durable and as the UK enters a recession, one in four SMEs in Northern Ireland still expects to expand this year. That is quite encouraging.”

With an ever growing risk of the recession in terms of how small and larger businesses will operate, along with the added uncertainly of inevitable job losses, it is difficult to tell how one company from another will be affected but with some promising figures (as indicated above), 1^st Contact believes that at the very least business owners will have a fighting chance of keeping their heads above water and coming out of the recession on top.