Since 2017, Be the Business has had a single mission: to help small business leaders improve the performance of their business through greater productivity.
When we talk about productivity, we mean labour productivity.
That’s defined as the value of the goods and services a firm supplies, over the amount of working time used to produce them.
In simple terms, how much you achieve with what you put in.
Supporting the 99.9%
Small business leaders have a vital role to play in improving the UK’s economy.
Small businesses make up 99.9% of the UK’s 5.6m businesses and employ two-thirds of those working today.
The transformative potential of making even modest improvements to SME productivity is real:
If every employing small business leader found and maintained an annual 1% improvement over a five-year period, this would add £94bn to the UK economy.
Productivity powers everything
The UK’s productivity – the pulse that powers economic growth and prosperity – has flatlined since 2008.
For the average UK worker, that means their annual wage is £11,000 per year lower than it would be if earlier levels of productivity had been maintained.
The effects of this long-standing poor performance are everywhere.
Productivity is our passion
Since 2017, we’ve worked with small business leaders, the UK’s most successful businesses, the business support ecosystem and government to put productivity at the top of the business agenda.
Our Manifesto outlines five policies to improve small business productivity and drive growth for all.
Small changes make a big difference
Our Impact
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16,000
business leaders have been supported by Be the Business -
£501m+
productivity uplift for businesses that took part in Be the Business interventions -
80%
of organisations made significant change after participation -
45%
have seen an uplift in turnover after making changes with us
Our work in action
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Our Impact
I knew marketing, but finance and logistics were way out of my comfort zone
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Our Impact
I gained business knowledge to bring to my passion project
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Our Impact
I discovered who I was as a business person
Recent News
Press Release
2.4m SMEs reluctant to adopt AI pose growth threat to next government
Press Release
Younger business leaders more likely to invest in productivity, according to new report uncovering growing business optimism
Press Release
Chancellor misses a £94bn opportunity in Budget
Learn more
Partnerships
Working in partnership with big & small businesses
A list of logo's from the following companies: Accenture, Amazon, Bae Systems, Cisco, Ey, Facebook, GSK, KPMG, Lloyds, Shopify, and Siemens.
Partner with us
Join the movement as a partner in designing and delivering programmes to support UK businesses.
Join the movement
Be part of our community of experts and volunteer to be a board member or mentor across our productivity programmes.