KPMG Private Enterprise Barometer 2025

92% of privately owned business owners and leaders are confident about their company’s growth prospects, with 59% describing themselves as very confident. Such high levels of optimism suggest that private enterprises have weathered the challenging trading conditions of recent times and believe they have the resilience to leverage opportunities ahead.

When asked about the main driver for this growth, the most cited factor (52% of respondents) was increased demand for their company’s products and services, followed by plans to introduce new technology (43%), plans to enter new markets or launch new products and services (43%), and a more positive outlook for the UK economy (42%).

But how will businesses achieve their growth ambitions?

Technology will be a key driver, in particular the massive potential of AI which businesses can leverage to improve the customer experience, drive increased operational efficiency and allow employees to become more productive in the areas of highest return.

Technology is the clear leader in terms of investment intention, cited by nearly two-thirds (63%) of executives. Nearly half (47%) also named the related area of innovation as a key focus.

This will help businesses strengthen their workforce and skills propositions, utilising people’s talents to their best effect.

We also see a strong recognition in our survey of the importance of sustainability and the ESG agenda.  Not only that, but there is also a real commercial return from ESG as it can improve access to funding and increase enterprise value and deal multipliers.

Sustainability was named as an investment priority by 44% of leaders – a testament to the rising profile of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda.

Business leaders are aware that investing in ESG and sustainability can increase the attractiveness of the business to investors and/or buyers, bolster its market value, and increase the likelihood of obtaining finance on more attractive terms. The same is true with regulation and compliance - with external scrutiny on good governance and robustly assured financial and non-financial information growing, the reasons to invest in regulatory compliance systems and processes are stronger than ever.

Concern about the impacts of the Budget are reflected in our survey results. Over a third of respondents (37%) said the measures will impact business profitability, while 31% feared the changes will affect their ability to expand within the UK or internationally.

However, while these results demonstrate a degree of anxiety, they are not as stark as may have been feared. Most respondents were neutral about the impacts rather than negative. This indicates that the Budget’s measures are generally viewed as a bump in the road that private enterprises have the capability to deal with.

Our report takes a look at what the new package of tax measures mean to private enterprise leaders and business owners.

Conducted towards the end of 2024, shortly after the new government had delivered its much-discussed Autumn Budget – we sought the views of 1,500 private business owners and leaders across geographies and business sectors in the UK. We explored in depth key questions surrounding business confidence, growth, investment priorities and the outlook for the future.  It is planned that The KPMG Private Enterprise Barometer will become an annual publication, gathering business sentiment for entrepreneurial businesses employing 1-500+ people across various sectors, across all regions.