Member Article

Rising overheads hit small businesses

Small businesses are struggling with increasing overheads as the price of utility services continues to rise, according to research carried out by YouGov.

The average utility costs for businesses in the UK have risen by 9.8% in the past 12 months. Leading these increases are gas prices, which have risen on average 91% since June 2003. Electricity has risen by 81%, and fuel costs reached just under £1 per litre in April. These increases have led to a direct and negative impact on the bottom line of small firms in the UK.

The YouGov research revealed that one area where small businesses could save money is on their telephone and internet costs. 61% of small businesses are paying up to £300 per month on landline bills, and over half are paying £400 for mobile phone charges. Even though the majority of respondents already used broadband for their internet connection, less than a quarter had considered using internet telephone services.

Kerry Ritz, managing director of internet phone company Vonage UK, said: “It is hard doing business as a small firm nowadays as you have little control of costs such as energy bills that just keep ticking up and up. Regular supplier reviews as opposed to the current apparent inertia would help small businesses defuse this ticking time bomb and expose the huge savings on offer if they look to get the most out of what they already have.”

However there are still fears around employing VoIP for business purposes. Information security firm Symantec recently identified VoIP systems as a technology that will become a target for online criminals in the next 18 months. Ollie Whitehouse, technical manager at Symantec, warns that “while there are currently very few reported attacks directed at VoIP systems, it’s only a matter of time before attackers target it more intensely.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .