ABOUT BABBLE

Babble is committed to powering business up and down the country , aiming to provide a local service to its customers , with all the benefits of a national provider .

The company supports over 10,000 organisations across a range of sectors and has over 250 staff located nationwide . This makes Babble a natural partner for Ride Across Britain , an annual 980-mile bike ride from Land ’ s End to John O ’ Groats .

As lead sponsor , Babble is demonstrating its support for clients across the UK , reflected in the cross-country route , as well as fundraising over £ 500,000 for charities , The Prince ’ s Trust and The Buffalo Foundation .

Calls for cost-cutting support

When asked what support they ’ d like to see the government provide to British SMEs , respondents overwhelmingly voted in favour of measures tackling rising costs . Over two-thirds ( 67 %) would like a cap on business energy bills , similar to household energy bills , whilst almost half ( 44 %) want to see work done to reduce rapidly rising insurance premiums , especially on mandatory personal indemnity insurance policies . Other methods of support SME business leaders would like to see include :

THE IMPACT OF BREXIT IS

STILL WEIGHING HEAVILY

ON SMALL BUSINESSES .

• Corporation tax remains at 19 % regardless of business size ( 35 %)

• Reintroduction of the furlough scheme through the initial recession period ( 27 %)

• Reintroduction of the Brexit Support Fund for SMEs who are exporting to Europe ( 22 %)

• Faster rollout of Building Digital scheme so all businesses have fast broadband ( 20 %)

Tech investment is key to navigating trouble

With support so far unforthcoming , British SMEs are having to consider which areas they should invest in to successfully navigate this period .

Over half ( 57 %) plan to invest in new technologies to stay ahead of the competition , though a quarter ( 23 %) said they would have to scale back on spending plans .

When asked , business decision-makers are most likely to invest in :

• Software to improve customer experience ( 48 %)

• Cloud technology to improve hybrid and remote working ( 38 %)

• Increased protection from cyberattacks ( 31 %)

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