Originally written by Partner Content on Small Business
Solving Britain’s productivity puzzle is vitally important if the UK is to compete against other, stronger economies, experts agree. Small business technology is key to unlocking this puzzle – especially as we move towards a screen-based attention economy.
Productivity in Britain has been flat over last 10 years, partly because of low wages, which has weakened the business case for technology investment.
Figures released in May 2019 by the Office for National Statistics revealed that British productivity has improved by just 0.5pc per year since 2008 and lags 15pc behind other G7 countries.
According to a Small Business survey sponsored by Dell Small Business, nearly two thirds of small business owners are losing sleep over their company’s lack of productivity.
Lesley Giles, director of thinktank The Work Foundation, says: “Part of the UK productivity problem is that our employment levels are high, and they’re divided between high-value roles but also low-value jobs.”
However, given the talk about extending the living wage, and if Brexit turns off the supply of low-cost labour, The Work Foundation argues that the business case for automation and digitalisation becomes more compelling.
In any case, argues Richard Blakesley, co-founder of tech fund Capital Pilot, trying