A new report produced by small business advice hub Make It Cheaper in association with the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr) has mapped out the cost of running small businesses in the UK. The report has taken the views and opinions of small business leaders across the UK, together with the development of the UK’s first Business Cost Index, a model which measures the rate of cost inflation for small firms across the UK and has shown a 22.8% rise in small business overheads over the past five years.

The report has shown that over a third (34%) of small business leaders would consider moving their company in order to reduce costs and exposes real variations in the costs of running SMEs in different regions of the UK. Despite somewhat unpredictable economic conditions, small business leaders are still empowered to make choices when it comes to energy and utilities, human resource costs, IT, telecoms, insurance and commercial rents – all of which are subject to price fluctuations across the country. These factors have meant that 55% of UK SME leaders are worried that their companies will simply not survive if costs continue to rise at current rates.

Despite London having the highest business birth rate in the UK (12.6%), many small business owners do not realise that simply changing location could have a significant impact on their outgoing costs, and the report has shown that these savings could be as high as up to 20%. The national business birth rate for the UK as a whole stands at 10.2%, having fallen from 13% in 2005.

So, where are the UK’s entrepreneurial hotspots and what are the challenges facing the UK’s SME leaders today?

Joining us to discuss this further is former ‘Dragon’ and small business owner, Doug Richard.