Mid-size firms in Britain beat the Mittelstand
MID-SIZED firms contribute more to the UK than the famed Mittelstand does to Germany’s economy, HSBC analysts said today.
Critics of Britain’s economy frequently argue that the country needs to emulate Germany, with a wider base of mid-sized businesses to generate growth.
But HSBC argues that the UK is already there.
Its analysis shows mid-market enterprises (MMEs) make up 17.2 per cent of Britain’s private sector output, compared with 16.3 per cent of Germany’s. And they generate turnover of $16,420 (£10,690) per capita, compared with $16,280 in Germany. However, Germany does have more MMEs – 11,920 versus the 8,080 in the UK.
“Among the characteristics that unite them are the advantages offered by their scale – they tend to be more productive than small businesses, while also being more nimble and innovative than the largest firms,” said HSBC’s UK corporate banking boss Amanda Murphy.
“For that reason, it’s vital that all of us – from banks to government– do more to understand and meet the specific needs of the sector.”