Short Term Growth Signals for SME's - Business Banking Sector Happy

Top Quote Bankwest Australia see strong short term growth for SME's in Australia. The business loans sector is about to see higher revenue. End Quote
  • (1888PressRelease) August 11, 2011 - Bankwest Business Banking Chief Executive Ian Corfield said, "We are starting to see the first green shoots of recovery for SMEs and it's encouraging that this is the first time since November 2002 that we have seen this level of growth."

    According to research conducted by Bankwest, Australia is beginning to see an increase in the number of start-up small to medium enterprises (SMEs). Over the 12 months from February 2010 the Bankwest Business Trends Report found that the number of people running their own business has increased by 3.3% with an additional 42,000 entrepreneurs starting an SME*. This is the strongest level of growth seen in almost a decade with 1.3 million Australians now running their own business.

    The latest report in the Bankwest Financial Indicators series, drawn from data taken from the ABS Labour Force Survey, also found that the number of people working for themselves grew faster in the past year than overall employment growth. "Interestingly the data tells us that on a five to ten year view there are more sole traders and contractors but fewer businesses taking the next step and employing staff. More recently, this could be attributed to the tougher trading conditions for small
    business during and post the GFC," Mr Corfield said. There has been a contraction in the number of SMEs employing staff over the longer term with a drop of 8.6% in the number of employers over the past decade and a fall of 1.5% over five years.

    The state/territory with the highest proportion of SMEs is Tasmania with 12.9% of workers running their own business, compared to the national average of 11.5%. The strongest growth in the number of SMEs over the past 12 months has been seen in NSW with a 7.4% increase.

    "Over the last five years the most significant growth in the number of people running their own business has been in Victoria with a 12.7% rise."

    By industry, the strongest growth in people running their own business in the past year has been in accommodation and food services with a 27% increase. Meanwhile the largest decrease in the number of people running a business has been in retail trade (-8.4%).

    Agriculture, forestry and fishing have the highest proportion of people running their own business (46.3%) followed by over a quarter (27.1%) of individuals in the construction sector and 22.6% of people in administration and support services. "SME's around the country have had a difficult time of late and it is good to see some initial signs of moderate recovery.

    "The most successful economies are those that have entrepreneurs who bring their innovative ideas to market and we need to ensure that SME's across all industries are well supported," Mr Corfield said. The Bankwest Business Banking division is ready to take this opportunity to help SME's ride that growth.

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