According to a survey by market research firm Koski, the vast majority of UK tech start-ups anticipate further growth in 2013.
On behalf of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), Koski surveyed a total of 125 start-up executives from across the UK and compared the results with SVB’s annual US survey. The Startup Outlook Report 2013 reveals that more than 83 per cent of UK technology start-ups has a positive business outlook on 2013 and 66 per cent of the respondents have reported that business conditions had improved in 2012 compared to the year before.
The report also showed that 73 per cent of the UK start-ups has met or even exceeded revenue targets. Half of the UK start-ups that are earning revenue expected that they would be profitable in the coming year, in comparison to the US where this was only 26 per cent.
“The tech start-up sector is thriving, with one in five businesses beating their revenue targets for 2012, and another strong year predicted for 2013,” said Bindi Karia, Vice President at SVB. “The flipside is that many executives have concerns around how they should fuel the next level of growth, since access to funding and talent are cited as challenges for many start-ups. Nevertheless, these are exciting times for the UK tech scene. Executives are optimistic and working hard to develop the ‘next big thing’.”
The positive business outlook is also reflected in the evidently growing UK IT recruitment for start-ups. 90 per cent of the respondents said that they are planning to hire this year, while 77 per cent said that hiring employees with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) skills is crucial for the success of their company.
Research compiled by London’s Silicon Milkroundabout shows that there has been an increase in tech and digital job postings for start-ups of 22 per cent and that the prospect for tech jobs with start-ups are showing more appeal for jobseekers. Two-thirds of the respondents said they would be “easily persuaded” to join a start-up and a quarter said they were “only considering a start-up” for their next job.
“More and more people are considering working for a start-up because of the benefits that can’t be offered to employees at a bank or larger tech company,” said Pete Smith, co-founder of Silicon Milkroundabout. “Our survey found that when looking to work for a start-up candidates highly rated equity (65%), job satisfaction (97%) and learning opportunities (97%), as well as getting a say in hiring colleagues, closer proximity to customers, and being at the cutting edge of technology.”