Two-thirds of businesses 'have a cash surplus' for 2017, survey suggests

27 Sep 2017

A survey carried out by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) has suggested that two-thirds of businesses in the UK have a cash surplus for 2017.

The Institute found that 37% of UK businesses have neglected to invest their funds, or haven’t considered investing their surplus in the coming 12 months.

Amongst the reasons given for non-investment was a need for ‘greater flexibility’, a significant level of business uncertainty and a lack of opportunity.

Businesses who did make use of their cash surplus opted to reinvest in IT infrastructure, training and development and new technology.

Michael Izza, Chief Executive of the ICAEW, commented: ‘Businesses are in no rush to make major capital investments at the moment and this is reflected in the amount of cash they are hoarding.

‘But businesses should be investing now for the future and not for austerity.

‘Without this investment, growth will continue to slow, especially as we can no longer rely on consumers to keep spending at the rate they were.’