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Poor connectivity is costing British SMEs £18bn a year

UK micro-businesses and SMEs are losing out on over one hour of working time per employee, per week, due to poor connectivity.

The lost working time for British micro-businesses and SMEs equates to reduced business revenues of c. £18.77bn a year on average, according to new research from Three UK. This also means that £7.7bn of output is potentially being lost to the British economy every year.

The research, conducted by Three UK in partnership with YouGov and Development Economics, found that professional services and retail sectors are hardest hit by cost of poor connectivity.

Snehal Bhudia, director of business propositions, Three UK, explained, “As the cost of living crisis continues to bite, it’s alarming to see that £7.7bn is being lost from the UK economy every year due to the poor technology stifling SMEs’ performance. Many technology propositions are aimed at larger corporate structures and fail to meet the needs of smaller businesses in a cost-effective way.

“Technology providers must therefore better tailor their services towards the needs of SMEs; ensuring their offerings are really simple, giving them the tools to understand what’s happening in their business and doing so with a level of service that’s usually only reserved for large corporates.”