Small businesses in 12 key sectors were surveyed, including construction, real estate, and the finance and accounting market.

The percentage of small businesses in the construction market prioritising new growth initiatives has increased by three percentage points from Q4 2023 to 79% in Q4 2024.

Meanwhile, growth initiatives have declined in both the real estate and finance and accounting industries, with real estate dropping by seven percentage points to 72% and finance and accounting decreasing from 83% to 79%.

In terms of specific initiatives, the data shows that the construction industry was most likely to be investing in 'more contingency plans in the event of prolonged market uncertainty' at 18%, compared to the national average of 12%.

Increasing new business sales (43%) and reducing fixed costs (24%) were identified as priority areas for all sectors nationwide, but the study also showed that recent changes to employers’ National Insurance could significantly impact future hiring plans.

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Nationally, only 7% of small businesses surveyed are prioritising making senior hires for 2025 — and only 9% of small business owners plan to hire young people who they can train and develop.

Nationally, the percentage of small businesses experiencing quarterly growth stands at 35%, with the period since July 2024 representing a two-year high in small business growth forecasts.

Regionally, growth planning for next year is being driven by the same regions that reported a strong growth outlook for Q4 2024.

Small businesses in London (94%), the West Midlands (83%) and North East (83%) are most likely to be investing in future growth projects for 2025 – and these were the same regions that reported an uptick in growth forecasts this quarter.

Joanna Morris, head of insight at Novuna Business Finance, commented: “A lot of attention in recent weeks has been on the Autumn Budget — and while our data suggested that 86% of UK small business owners were fearful of Budget announcements, in truth, small businesses finish 2024 in a resilient position.

“The percentage of enterprises predicting growth has been at a two-year peak since July and, on top of this, a huge proportion are already prioritising growth projects to invest in for the year ahead.”