"Behind every dark cloud there is an ever-shining sun. Just wait. In time, the cloud will pass." - Marianne Williamson This quote flashes up on my desktop screen each morning and it does hit home, especially with all of the doom and gloom in the news about the UK economy, the dreaded Autumn 25 budget and how this could impact #SME businesses and #propertyinvestors. Many are facing a pressure on profit margins as a result of: 💠Ongoing rise in energy costs 💠Employer NI contributions kicking in 💠Rising costs for materials 💠Supply chain pressures One engineering client recently shared that the NI hike alone was costing them an £80k extra annually and that soaring utility bills will once again eat into a once-comfortable £350k–£500k profit. A property developer that I met at a recent event mentioned that they had laid off a team of in-house builders (NI hike) and now only work with external contractors and that margins were always being challenged by the rising cost of building materials and steel. When I look at solutions, it is not that straightforward as #commercialfinance may not always be the silver bullet. Sometimes, the business owner will need to take decisions around price adjustments, reducing capacity, redundancies or simply absorbing the hit for the sake of delivering a project or fulfilling a contract. Every option has consequences, and the right strategy isn’t always obvious! It may also boil down to protecting what you already have, which may have taken years of graft and grit to build. I am also a firm believer that behind every dark cloud there is a silver lining and that the UK will eventually pull itself out of this downturn! If you're navigating similar pressures, feel free to reach out to me at sanjay@finances.house or feel free to book at meeting in at https://calendly.com/financeshouse as fresh pair of eyes might be just what you need! P.s the picture was taken during a recent visit to Nice!

Posted by Sanjay Majithia at 2025-10-17 08:24:38 UTC