Our Election Year Mid-market Business Barometer has revealed that 45% of Britain’s mid-sized companies plan to delay making key decisions until after the General Election.

1. LinkedIn
March 2015
American Express survey reveals UK businesses are maintaining a prudent approach
Brendan Walsh, Executive Vice President, Global Corporate Payments
According to the American Express Election Year Mid-market Business Barometer, just under half
(45%) of Britain’smid-sizedcompanies –those withrevenuebetween £3-300 million - plan to delay
making some, or all, of their key decisions until after the General Election.
So,what businessactivitieswillthese companiesbe undertakinginthe interimperiodbetween now
and the election? And what about the remaining half of those we surveyed, who said they would
continue business as usual in the run-up to the election?
The AmericanExpress surveyhashelped reveal aclear hierarchy of resolutions made by companies
for 2015. A quarter (25%) of respondents identified their intent to spend more time on strategy,
while 21% prioritisedthe needtobuilduptheirknowledge base. Respondentsfeltthatthiswouldbe
accomplished by gaining an in-depth understanding of their regulatory environment, risk, social
media and marketing. A further 13% of respondents said that their priority this year was to spend
more time with customers. The underlying trend that consequently becomes visible is that mid-
market companies are focusing on developing a strong future pipeline for growth, rather than
investing in immediate expansion.
The key ingredients necessary to develop this future pipeline, according to our survey results, are
innovation, and investment in people and technology. The decision-makers we surveyed have
identified talent retention as being of paramount importance, reviving a key focus area from the
pre-recessionera,andsuggestingthatbusinesseswill have tocompete farharderto recruit talent in
the future. Indeed,amongathirdof respondents, talent retention ranks higher than concerns over
cash flow or declining market share.
Reflectingtheirdesiretobetterunderstandissuessuchasriskand regulation,maintainingthe status
quoappearsto be the standard among the majority of businesses, with 63% claiming their attitude
to riskwouldremainthe same.Respondents were sanguine about their approach to risk, with 59%
saying they believed to have taken the ‘right amount’ of business risk to secure growth. This is an
echo of the long term approach to business investment undertaken by respondents.
In summary,the surveyshowsthatUK businesseshave now foundtheirpost-recession equilibrium.
Across the board, companies are concentrating on maintaining a solid business foundation by
focusing on longer-term strategic targets and increasing their knowledge base, to ensure they are
ideally placed to compete effectively for sustainable business growth both here and overseas.