SMEs facing triple whammy

The health of small and medium sized businesses in the UK has declined to a four-year low.

A new report by banking group CYBG, the Centre for Business and Economics Research (CEBR) and YouGov found the SME community was facing a triple whammy of threats from a shortage of skilled workers, rising costs and a lack of access to funding.

CYBG’s quarterly SME Health Check Index dropped to a score of 42 in the latest threemonth period, down 48% since 2014 and the fifth consecutive quarterly fall.