For ambitious small businesses, accessing new talent is critical to successful development. But recruiting and retaining such people doesn’t come cheap. Alternative finance can help SMEs afford the investment.

When it comes to discussing the essential costs that small business owners must meet, recruitment often gets short shrift, with the headlines normally dominated by the likes of cyber-security, GDPR compliance and business rates. However, without the ability to invest in new personnel, SMEs can’t grow.

But affordability is an issue, in particular at a time when small businesses are burdened with so many other costs. According to a new study from American Express, almost 30% of SMEs are concerned about how they will finance the hiring of new staff. It’s not difficult to see how this uncertainty can impact momentum and performance.

And, what’s more, recruiting and keeping top talent is getting much harder and more expensive. There are a number of factors behind this trend, including a failure by employers to use the right means to retain top talent and the impact Brexit is having on access to the European talent pool.

According to new research from Tech London Advocates, a third of tech start-ups have lost a potential hire because of Brexit. The government backed tech companies significantly in Autumn Budget 2017 but such figures put a question mark against how much impact the measures can have.

Nevertheless, SMEs are still showing signs of optimism about short-term growth and being able to recruitment top talent is central to achieving their goals. Hence, the ability to manage cash flow and invest is essential.

This is where alternative finance has an important role to play. With accessing finance from traditional lenders continuing to be problematic for many firms, the likes of invoice finance, peer-to-peer lending and crowdfunding are helping small business owners manage their capital and cashflow in order to maintain momentum and invest in their future.

This is how a company in Sussex used peer-to-peer lending to raise the capital for investment in new resources.

If SMEs are going drive the UK economy forward, they must be able to afford to recruit and retain the top talent they need. Non-bank finance services can help them do so.

To find out more about A&T Business Associates services, contact Tony on 01903 602211 or tony@atbusinessassociates.co.uk.