Almost 500,000 small businesses could go bust within weeks as the cost of living crisis creates a “ticking timebomb”.
Martin McTague, chair of the Federation of Small Businesses, said many firms faced ruin unless the government rolls out targeted measures for businesses.
McTague said that despite the £15bn package to aid consumers, “There is still a massive problem with small businesses.”
“They are facing something like twice the rate of inflation for their production prices, and it’s a ticking timebomb. They have got literally weeks left before they run out of cash and that will mean hundreds of thousands of businesses, and lots of people losing their jobs.”
Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that 40%, or 2m, of the UK’s small businesses have less than three months’ worth of cash left to support their operations. Of those 2m, McTague said about 10% – or 200,000 – were in “serious trouble”, and another 300,000 “have only got weeks left”.
