Small businesses are setting their sights on expansion, with 43 per cent of small companies in the UK looking to grow in the next three months, according to Hitachi Capital's quarterly British Business Barometer.
This figure is a 9 per cent increase on the 32 per cent reported six months ago, and a 7 per cent increase (36 per cent) on the same period in the first quarter of this year.
With SMEs breathing life back into the British economy across a number of different industries, certain sectors are leading the way more than others, with confidence at a high in the construction, transport and distribution and manufacturing sectors in particular.
At a time when the country is waiting to find out what the new Conservative government will do for them, it appears that small businesses are not playing the waiting game and are pushing ahead with their ambitious plans, perhaps in the hope that the new government will stick to their electoral promise and support and invest in British business for the future.