The Bedfordshire Limited report, compiled by business and financial advisers Grant Thornton, uses the latest company accounts available for the county’s top 100 privately owned businesses, selected on turnover and trading address, to provide an in-depth health-check of Bedfordshire’s business community.
Announced this morning to more than 80 business leaders at a breakfast event at Woburn Abbey Sculpture Gallery, the results paint a much more positive picture than last year’s inaugural report which showed Bedfordshire businesses working through a challenging economic climate.
In comparison, Bedfordshire Limited 2014 shows excellent overall performance and highlights that, unusually, Bedfordshire’s small and medium sized businesses are performing as strongly as larger corporates.
- Combined turnover increased by 2.8% to £2.8 billion
- Employment has risen 0.8%
- Average employee remuneration increased by2.7% to £32,074
The Bedfordshire Limited report also includes a breakdown of the financial data by sector and shows Automotive & Motor Retail, Property & Construction and Technology as leading the way in sector growth.
In terms of profitability, Business Support Services, Food, Drink & Leisure, Property & Construction and Technology have all delivered good profitability.
Particularly strong are Property & Construction and Technology standing out with 60% and 53% increase in earnings respectively.
Mr Read said: “What is unusual about Bedfordshire is that the 84 SMEs [less than £50 million turnover with no more than 250 employees] in the report have displayed a significant 13% rise in earnings against only a 1% increase in turnover.
"This highlights a strong improvement in productivity within this community and, importantly, has been delivered against a backdrop of increased employment within the SME sector.
"This demonstrates once again the importance of the SME base as the bedrock of the local economy.