COVID-19 – SME and sole-trader opinion tracker
JL Partners tracked SME and sole-trader opinion on behalf of the Cabinet Office between 27 March and 27 August 2020 on perceptions of coronavirus (COVID-19).
Documents
Details
The survey was conducted over 22 waves amongst SMEs and sole-traders operating in the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland.
To ensure a wide-ranging sample, with data weighted to that profile, quotas were set for:
- business size
- broad sector
- region
Support for employees, businesses and the UK economy
More SMEs and sole-traders agreed than disagreed that the Government was putting the right measures in place to tackle Coronavirus throughout the survey period (March to August 2020).
UK businesses
At the start of the survey period, between 27 March and 1 April:
- 63% agreed that the government was putting the right measures in place to protect UK businesses from the impact of coronavirus at the time of the first survey (27 March to 1 April).
- 14% disagreed
- the rest were neutral or said they did not know.
By the end of the survey period, between 21 to 27 August:
- 53% agreed that the Government was putting the right measures in place by the end of the survey period
- 22% disagreed
UK economy
At the start of the survey period in March:
- 62% agreed that the government was putting the right measures in place to support the UK economy from the impact of coronavirus, with
- 12% disagreeing and the rest neutral or saying they did not know.
At the end of the survey period in August:
- 53% agreed
- 21% disagreed
Employees
At the start of the survey period in March:
- 60% thought that the government was doing well in supporting employees whose jobs are at risk during the coronavirus outbreak
- 21% thought they were doing badly
- the rest were neutral or said they did not know
At the end of the survey period in August:
- 47% thought the Government was doing well
- 34% thought the Government was doing badly
Small businesses
At the start of the survey period in March:
- 54% thought that the government was doing well in supporting small businesses during the coronavirus outbreak
- 26% thought they were doing badly
- the rest were neutral or said they did not know
At the end of the survey period in August:
- 44% thought the Government was doing well
- 38% thought they were doing badly
Support for their business
At the start of the survey period in March:
- 43% thought that the Government was doing well in supporting their own business during the Coronavirus outbreak
- 35% thought that they were doing badly
- the rest were neutral or said they did not know
At the end of the survey period in August:
- 44% thought the Government was doing well
- 30% thought they were doing badly
Well informed about government support?
On many measures at least three in five SMEs and sole-traders agreed that they were well informed about the government support packages and how to protect themselves and their employees from coronavirus during the survey period (March - August 2020).
Limiting the risk
At the start of the survey period in March:
- 80% agreed that they knew what they needed to do to limit the risk of themselves and their employees contracting coronavirus
- 6% disagreed and the rest were neutral or said they did not know.
At the end of the survey period in August:
- 78% agreed they knew what to do at the end of the survey period
- 7% disagreed
Government sources of advice
Between 27 April to 1 May:
- 79% said GOV.UK was their main source of advice to find out how to get their business operating fully again within the social distancing restrictions.
- 37% sought advice from HMRC
- 27% from an online search
- 26% from local authorities
- 23% said their main source of advice was the daily government press conference
Government support packages
At the start of the survey period:
- 60% agreed that they felt well informed about the government support packages available to their business.
- 15% disagreed
- the rest were neutral or said they did not know
At the end of the survey period in August:
- 64% agreed that they were well informed
- 15% disagreed
Financial support
- 65% agreed (March) that they knew where to go to get information on financial support for their business
- 67% agreed when the question was last asked on 11 June.
Impact of Coronavirus on business and UK economy
SMEs and sole-traders were more worried about the impact of Coronavirus on the UK economy as a whole than their own business, but a significant number saw it as a risk to their survival throughout the survey period (April - August 2020).
UK economy
At the time of the first survey:
- 75% thought that coronavirus posed a major or significant risk to the UK economy at the time of the first survey.
This had fallen to 63% by the end of the survey period.
Risk to their business
At the time of the first survey:
- 48% thought that coronavirus posed a major or significant risk to their business’ short-term survival.
At the end of the survey period in August:
- This had fallen to 39%
Lockdown measures – SME and sole-trader actions
Lockdown measures legally came into force on 26 March 2020 a few days before the full period of the first survey between 27 March to 1 April. At that time the most common action by SMEs and sole-traders was to:
- suspend the business for a short period of time (29%)
- adjust work to support social distancing (28%)
- cancel projects (28%)
Those putting workers on furlough/holiday gradually increased from 20% to 30% by the last time this question was asked (22 to 28 May). By that time there had been a fall in the number who had:
- suspended their business (25%)
- adjusted to support social distancing (19%)
- cancelled projects (22%).
In mid-May (15 to 21 May), 64% were confident that their workplace was safe for employees to return, rising to 78% by the end of the survey period (21 to 27 August).