Britain’s small businesses are planning to cut their advertising and travel budgets in order to weather the recession, a new survey has found.
A new survey conducted by YouGov found that 19% of small companies plan to reduce their advertising spend whereas 18% expect to reduce travel bills.
The survey also found that the larger company is the more likely it is that staff bonuses will be cut. Indeed, a third (33%) of the largest companies surveyed – those employing up to 50 people – said that employee bonuses would be the first area they would rein in.
However, IT is one area where owner-managers are adamant that they would not cut spending with 25% naming it as an area where they are least to make cuts.
Interestingly, old-fashioned items like tea and biscuits were cited as being too important for staff morale and were not seen as likely areas of cost reduction.
“While some value can be had from trimming excess spending on business travel and advertising budgets, it is surprising that a review of utility bills does not appear higher up the list,” said Andy Nash, operations director at Opus Energy which commissioned the survey.
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2009