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First Ever Sizing Study Reveals 11.5 Million Americans Participate in the Creator Economy, Earning Money from Platforms Like YouTube, TikTok and Instagram

MBO Partners

A new study from MBO Partners® shows that 2021 is the year of the creator. In the first-ever study of this segment, MBO Partners reveals that there are 11.5 million Americans in the creator economy and that 61%, or 7.1 million people, earned money the last year by doing so. This sector is poised for explosive growth, with another 3.2 million planning to become content creators over the next two years. This new Research Brief is being released in advance of MBO Partners’ 11 th annual State of Independence in America report, the country’s longest-running end-to-end study of the American independent workforce. As retailers harnessed technology to go direct-to-consumer (DTC), U.S. workers enacted their own version by selling their creative skills and talents directly to consumers and companies. The broader independent workforce grew to over 51 million in 2021, an unprecedented 34% growth in a single year. The growth of the creator economy subset mirrors this trend. The shift out of traditional occupations and into the creator economy has people like Wade Forbes pivoting their career paths. Forbes, an artist, and illustrator, spent 16 years working in cyber security and consulting with the DoD before jumping into the creator economy to pursue his lifelong passion of bringing concepts to life through his artwork. “I loved drawing as a kid but did not believe I could make a living as an artist,” Forbes said. “It is a dream to now be able to fulfill my passion while using the skills and expertise from across my entire career.” Technology news site The Information estimates that venture capital firms invested $2 billion in creator economy startups in the first half of 2021, and the venture capital firm Antler reports there are over 220 firms that cater to creators. This rapidly growing ecosystem of creator economy products and support services makes it easier, cheaper, less risky, and more attractive to become a successful content creator. “The Creator Economy validates the trend that more and more workers are realizing the freedom and wellbeing that comes from taking career control into their own hands,” said Miles Everson, CEO, MBO Partners. “Savvy organizations and politicians must realize the workforce of the future will be fueled by independent professional solo-entrepreneurs, choosing to design careers on their own terms. Creators are just one example of how the American workforce is changing at a rapid pace.” The report revealed several key insights about this fast-growing segment of the American workforce, including: Cash on the horizon. While 7.1 million are earning income in the creator economy, another 4.4 million are part of the segment but have not yet earned income. Diversity of talent. The creator economy skews young, with 75% of creators identifying as Gen Z or Millennial. The creators themselves are slightly more diverse than the American population at large, with 19% identifying as Black, compared to just 12% of the overall American population. Let’s collab. Creators are all about the collab with over half (55%) reporting that they are teaming up with other content creators on projects compared to only 21% of independent workers who aren’t content creators. Further, 36% of content creators have hired freelance contractors to help with their business, while only 14% of independent workers overall have done so. The struggle is real. The pressure to engage and reinvent are constant struggles for content creators, along with setting work/life boundaries. A third of all content creators (34%) report struggling with boundaries and burnout versus only 21% of independent workers. From punch the clock to TikTok. Almost six out of ten (59%) independent content creators are punching a clock at a traditional job. In fact, 46% have full-time jobs and 13% have a part-time job. The majority (63%) report working part-time as content creators, while 37% of income-earning digital content creators are doing it full-time. MBO Partners will release the full 2021 State of Independence study in December. To obtain a copy of the brief, please visit https://www.mbopartners.com/state-of-independence/. About MBO Partners® MBO Partners is a deep job platform that connects and enables independent professionals and microbusiness owners to do business safely and effectively with enterprise organizations. Its unmatched experience and industry leadership enable it to operate on the forefront of the independent economy and consistently advance the next way of working. For more information, visit mbopartners.com Contact Details Words For Hire Karen Swim +1 586-461-2103 pr@mbopartners.com Company Website https://mbopartners.com

November 16, 2021 09:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

Customer Experience and Customer Engagement Market to Surpass $100 Billion in Annual Worldwide Revenue by 2026, According to Dash Research

Dash Network

Customer experience (CX) and customer engagement (CE) initiatives continue to be a major priority for organizations around the world, especially in light of the significant changes and disruptions to customer relationships that emerged as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a new report from Dash Research, this level of focus is leading to brisk growth in the market for CX/CE technology platforms. “While CX improvements are largely driven by organizational change management, software is increasingly being used to support these initiatives by managing and making available the plethora of customer data that is captured and aggregated from a variety of sources,” says principal analyst Keith Kirkpatrick. He adds that some of the key drivers of market growth include pandemic-related shutdowns and reopening, increased focus on omnichannel customer interaction capabilities, the rise of customer centricity, and the elimination of functional silos within organizations. Dash Research forecasts that global CX/CE revenue will increase from $63.6 billion in 2021 to $100.3 billion by 2026. The market size experienced a 13.5% decline between 2019 and 2020 due to economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, but spending has recovered in 2021 and is projected to reach 2019 levels again by the end of 2022. The market intelligence firm forecasts that the top 5 industries in terms of CX/CE spending between 2021 and 2026 will be as follows: Telecommunications Healthcare Financial Services & Insurance Retail Government/Public Sector Dash Research’s report, “CX Market Forecasts”, includes a detailed market sizing and forecast model that focuses on the business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) software and services opportunity related to CX and CE. The forecast is split into a variety of segments, based on the world region in which the solution is used, the offering itself, functional area, and industry. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the market drivers and barriers, and insights into four industries that are driving the market spending are discussed in the report, along with recommendations for both end users and vendors. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on the firm’s website. Dash Research, the market intelligence arm of Dash Network, provides in-depth research and insights on the worldwide CX market including a comprehensive assessment of technology solutions, business issues, market drivers, and end-user dynamics across industry sectors. Dash Research’s global market coverage combines qualitative and quantitative research methodologies to provide a complete view of emerging business opportunities surrounding contact center technologies, customer data & analytics, customer data platforms, customer insights & feedback, customer relationship management, personalization & optimization, and employee experience. For more information, visit www.dashresearch.com or call +1.720.603.1700. Contact Details Clint Wheelock +1 720-603-1700 press@dashnetwork.com Company Website http://www.dashnetwork.com

November 15, 2021 05:30 AM Eastern Standard Time

Home Maintenance Tips for the Winter: How to Know if You Need to Call an Expert

YourUpdateTV

A video accompanying this announcement is available at: https://youtu.be/2UPtX1CdE1s Ready or not, winter is on its way. Depending on where you live, you might've already felt the temperature drop, which means it's a good time to start preparing your home for the coldest months ahead. But if you’re not an expert in DIY home maintenance, knowing where to look and knowing what to look for can be difficult. It may be time to call in the real experts. On Thursday, November 4 th, Chief Operating Officer of One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing and Mister Sparky Electric, Mark Dawson conducted a nationwide media tour to share helpful tips on preparing your home for winter and for the influx of family and friends this holiday season. For more information, expert and licensed professionals at Benjamin Franklin Plumbing, One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning and Mister Sparky are ready to assist and service homeowners across the country. To request a service, visit: https://www.mistersparky.com/ https://www.benjaminfranklinplumbing.com/ https://www.onehourheatandair.com / About YourUpdateTV: YourUpdateTV is a social media video portal for organizations to share their content. It includes separate channels for Health and Wellness, Lifestyle, Media and Entertainment, Money and Finance, Social Responsibility, Sports and Technology. Contact Details YourUpdateTV +1 212-736-2727 yourupdatetv@gmail.com

November 10, 2021 04:54 PM Eastern Standard Time

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BEASY Partners with Toldright to Provide Digital Asset Creation Services to Athletes, Musicians and Creators of all Types

Beasy, LLC

Blockchain Made Easy (dba BEASY) announced today it has agreed to a multi-year partnership with toldright, a first-of-its-kind production resource company dedicated to enhancing the video content of their clients through storytelling. Toldright will provide value added services to BEASY enabled communities. Toldright is a disruptive, new on-demand model for video production that matches clients with experienced creative professionals to elevate the look and feel of their video content. Founded by world-class industry leaders, toldright’s exclusive ‘Neighborhood’ includes more than 1,800 fully-vetted Emmy Award-winning artists around the country, featuring top-tier producers, editors, on-air talent, technical specialists, and more. Demand for video content has exploded in recent years, and professional athletes and brands continue to use video to tell their stories. “Offering BEASY creators access to toldright’s top-notch network of video talent and storytellers will help them produce innovative and engaging digital content in support of their own brands,” says Bob Kramich, Founder and CEO of BEASY. “Video and storytelling are key factors to successful sales and marketing, especially for athletes in this name, image and likeness (NIL) era. We are thrilled to be working with such an incredible player in the market,” he adds. The partnership between BEASY and toldright now offers smaller companies, organizations and individuals access to what has traditionally only been available to large corporations. “We are excited to work with BEASY to exclusively link its rapidly-growing community to our extensive ‘Neighborhood’ of global top-tier talent typically reserved for major networks,” says Max Heineman, CEO and Co-Founder of toldright. “BEASY participants now have access to the highest-quality people and production tools for telling and authenticating their digital legacies using blockchain technology.” This is the third press-release in recent weeks from BEASY. On October 21st and November 1st, BEASY announced multi-year agreements with Tykes, Inc., and the Recording Artists Guild (RAG), respectively. # # # About BEASY Blockchain Made Easy ™️, LLC is a Massachusetts-based technology and professional services company empowering retail and business customers with the ability to deploy customized blockchain-based strategies through easy-to-use blockchain software products. The company’s core product, BEASY Authentication ™️, is a multi-blockchain platform and associated wallet solution allowing users to seamlessly create, sell, and track digital goods in addition to a broad range of other applications such as digital identity management, fractional and whole digital asset ownership, royalties management, contract-to-smart contract management and more. BEASY does this without requiring owning or managing any cryptocurrency on major compatible blockchain networks such as Ethereum, Matic and more. BEASY is committed to making blockchain adoption easy. For more information, go to www.BEASY1.com About toldright Toldright is the first-of-its-kind on-demand production resource, transforming the video industry and empowering companies of all sizes the opportunity to tell great stories with an end-to-end solution that delivers accessibility, efficiency, unprecedented value, and amazing content. Through our exclusive “neighborhood” of 1,800 fully vetted production and content creators around the nation, that includes Emmy and Oscar Award winners, toldright has the flexibility to provide 5-star experts to meet the demands of any project. Founded by world-class industry leaders, toldright has already been trusted by iconic brands including ESPN, Tiger Woods Foundation, NFLPA, LPGA, Twitter, Showtime, Adobe, Citi, Xerox, and Dell. For more information on toldright, please visit www.toldright.com. # # # Media Relations Contacts: BEASY, LLC. Contact: David Kaupp info@beasy1.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/BeasyInc LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/beasy-blockchain-made-easy-llc/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beasy1859/ Toldright Matt Saler, Vice President M: +1 215 432 3149 301 E 57th Street New York, NY 10022 www.finnpartners.com Blockchain Made Easy, LLC is a Massachusetts-based technology and professional services company empowering retail and business customers with the ability to deploy customized blockchain-based strategies through easy-to-use blockchain software products. The company's core product, BEASY Authentication, is a multi-blockchain platform and associated wallet solution allowing users to seamlessly create, sell, and track digital goods in addition to a broad range of other applications such as digital identity management, fractional and whole digital asset ownership, royalties management, contract-to-smart contract management and more. BEASY does this without requiring owning or managing any cryptocurrency on major compatible blockchain networks such as Ethereum, Matic and more. BEASY is committed to making blockchain adoption easy. For more information, go to www.BEASY1.com Contact Details Beasy, LLC David Kaupp +1 978-360-6698 info@beasy1.com toldright Matt Saler, Vice President +1 215-432-3149 Company Website https://www.beasy1.com

November 09, 2021 11:06 AM Eastern Standard Time

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Global Employee Engagement Study Finds Only Half of Employees Happy at Work

Great Place to Work®

Great Place to Work®, the global authority on workplace culture and leader in certifying great employee experiences around the world, today announced the results of its 2021 Global Employee Engagement Benchmark study, a data-led analysis of employee satisfaction around the globe. The study surveyed over 14,000 workers across 37 countries to determine the average employee experience. The study found that only about half of employees worldwide are experiencing a great workplace, with little variation across regions. In the U.S. and Canada, just 53% of employees are reporting a positive experience at work. In Latin America, the highest-scoring region, 60% of employees report a positive employee experience. By comparison, Europe, the lowest-scoring region, saw 52% of employees reporting a positive experience. Source: Great Place to Work® Global Employee Engagement Benchmark study There were also few differences across industries. Hospitality saw the lowest score, with only 49% of employees reporting a positive experience, while all other industries in the study averaged between 54% and 60%. Employees rated their workplaces against 17 statements in Great Place to Work’s confidential Trust Index™ survey. The statements measure factors that contribute to a positive employee experience such as a sense of purpose, innovation opportunities, psychological safety, leadership and fairness. Within these findings, four challenges stood out as most common to workplaces today, with employees citing inequity, lack of meaningful connection, lack of purpose and poor leadership. “These experiences are sadly familiar to many employees,” says Michael C. Bush, CEO of Great Place to Work. “Moreover, they’re hurting companies’ agility, innovation and performance.” The study shows that more than half of workers feel pay and promotions are handled unfairly. As well, 43% said they believe their coworkers don’t care for each other, 35% said they feel they can’t be themselves at work and 45% say their workplaces are not psychologically and emotionally healthy. Roughly half of all employees reported their leaders do not genuinely care for them as people, don’t involve them in decisions and fail to match their actions to their words. And nearly half of all employees said they do not intend to stay with their current workplace, nor are they willing to recommend their employer. By contrast, employee feedback data from companies that are Certified™ by Great Place to Work shows that when workplaces provide positive leadership, a sense of purpose and opportunity for meaningful connections with colleagues, employees’ intent to stay improves by 52%, while their willingness to recommend their employer to others increases by 65%. About Great Place to Work Great Place to Work is the global authority on workplace culture. Since 1992, they have surveyed more than 100 million employees around the world and used those deep insights to define what makes a great workplace: trust. Great Place to Work helps organizations quantify their culture and produce better business results by creating a high-trust work experience for all employees. Their unparalleled benchmark data is used to recognize Great Place to Work-Certified™ companies and the Best Workplaces in the U.S. and more than 60 countries, including the 100 Best Companies to Work For® and World’s Best list published annually in Fortune. Everything they do is driven by the mission to build a better world by helping every organization become a great place to work For All™. To learn more, visit greatplacetowork.com, visit Great Place to Work’s company culture blog and read “ A Great Place to Work For All. ” Join the community on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Contact Details Kim Peters +1 415-844-2574 kpeters@greatplacetowork.com

November 09, 2021 07:00 AM Eastern Standard Time

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NMTC Coalition Urges White House and Congressional Leadership to Make the NMTC Permanent within the Final Federal Appropriations Package, As Passed by the House Budget Committee

New Markets Tax Credit Coalition

Today, the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Coalition, a national membership organization of Community Development Entities (CDEs) and investors organized to advocate on behalf of the NMTC, released a letter signed by 400 community development stakeholders to President Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, urging Democratic leadership to include provisions to make the New Markets Tax Credit Program permanent. The Coalition also supports additional NMTC enhancements approved by the House Ways and Means Committee in the budget reconciliation legislation. The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the ten-year cost of the Ways and Means NMTC provisions at only $2.6 billion over ten years, while those funds will leverage an estimated $85 billion investment in economically distressed rural, urban, and tribal communities. These communities will benefit from improved services, increased private sector investment, and 700,000 new jobs at a federal cost of under $4,000 per job. “We strongly support making the NMTC permanent,” said Yvette Ittu, President of the NMTC Coalition and President of Cleveland Development Advisors. In February, Reps. Terri Sewell (D-AL), Tom Reed (R-NY), Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Roy Blunt (R-MO) introduced the New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) Extension Act of 2021. The legislation permanently extends NMTC at $5 billion in annual credit authority, adjusts that amount for inflation in future years and provides an exception from the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) for New Markets investments. In December 2020, Congress extended the NMTC for five years, which was the largest extension in the history of the Credit. Throughout its 20-year history, the NMTC has delivered more than $110 billion to rural and urban communities outside the economic mainstream, which has led to financing to more than 6,000 business and projects and over one million jobs. Establishing the NMTC as a permanent part of the tax code will provide certainty and further promote the in getting patient, flexible capital to low-income and marginalized communities, creating jobs, increasing economic opportunity, and improving lives at a time when the economic frailty of our underserved communities has never been more apparent. Established in 2000 in the Community Renewal Tax Relief Act (P.L.106-554), the New Markets Tax Credit is a bipartisan effort to stimulate investment and economic growth in low-income urban neighborhoods and rural communities. Since then, the New Markets Tax Credit has financed more than 6,500 projects and created over one million jobs in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. “Following devastating impacts from COVID-19, the New Markets Tax Credit is absolutely vital for many of America’s urban neighborhoods and rural communities and will provide billions of dollars for high-impact, community revitalization projects,” said Bob Rapoza, spokesperson for the NMTC Coalition. “Over the years, the credit has been instrumental in financing plant and equipment for small manufacturing businesses and patient flexible capital to other small businesses, hospitals, healthcare centers, homeless shelters and other transformative projects that improve communities, create jobs and economic opportunity. A permanent extension of NMTC will provide more certainty to private sector investors, which will result in better pricing and more subsidy to hard-to-finance, essential projects.” For examples of how the NMTC is making an impact in each state, see the NMTC Coalition’s newly released report, NMTC at Work in Communities Across America, featuring updated state statistics sheets on NMTC efficacy and more than 80 Tax Credit success stories. About New Markets Tax Credit Program The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) was enacted in 2000 in an effort to stimulate private investment and economic growth in low-income urban neighborhoods and rural communities that lack access to the patient capital needed to support and grow businesses, create jobs, and sustain healthy local economies. Since its inception, the NMTC has generated more than one million jobs. Today, due to the NMTC, nearly $110 billion is hard at work in underserved communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. For more information, visit www.NMTCCoalition.org Contact Details Bob Rapoza +1 202-498-9921 bob@rapoza.org Company Website https://nmtccoalition.org/

November 08, 2021 02:50 PM Eastern Standard Time

National Partnership Action Fund Launches C4 Accountability Campaign Around Women’s Agenda

National Partnership Action Fund

Today, the National Partnership Action Fund announced that it is launching a campaign effort to ensure that the agenda that women and families voted for in the past election is carried out by policy makers. Recent polling has shown that paid family and medical leave is one of, if not the most, popular elements of any plan to help our economy rebuild amidst an ongoing pandemic. Women in particular have borne the brunt of the pandemic, with 3 million leaving the workforce, with one of the core reasons being a lack of ability to take leave to care for themselves and others. Yet the past few weeks have shown that women are still having to fight to be heard in the broader agenda. The Action Fund plans to engage in both grassroots and grasstops outreach in districts to ensure that the public knows who has stood up for their priorities, with elected officials being identified as She-roes or Zeros, to encourage and assist people in calling on their elected officials for action. The Fund will launch with a six-figure coffer with plans to raise additional funds from individuals and organizations who want to see Congress take stronger action for women’s priorities. “This past election women came out in larger numbers to support bold change,” said Lelaine Bigelow, Campaign Director of the National Partnership Action Fund. “We turned out in larger numbers than our male counterparts and we were the backbone of campaigns around the country. Yet we still have a culture that believes that infrastructure is only hard-hat jobs and that caregiving is women’s work and not worth investing in completely. We’re excited to launch this campaign to ensure that our elected officials hear loud and clear that we are watching and that we expect them to hold the line for women and families.” Contact Details Amaya Smith asmith@nationalpartnershipaction.org

November 03, 2021 04:09 PM Eastern Daylight Time

British fintech Nimbla attracts £5.1m investment as embedded insurance takes off

Stockwood Strategy

Fintech business insurance startup Nimbla has today announced a £5.1m funding round led by Silicon Valley venture fund Fin VC with participation from Barclays Bank. The funding comes as Nimbla seeks to scale its operations with increased demand from embedded credit risk solutions through its API with banks and alternative lending platforms. Founded in 2016, the Nimbla platform has given businesses the confidence to trade with a peace of mind using invoice insurance with quotes provided within seconds. Their proprietary digital automated credit risk platform is able to process requests immediately and provide real time quotes. Nimbla has processed over 67m invoices worth £2.5b. During the pandemic, volumes of invoices tripled as economic uncertainty and supply chain concerns increased and Nimbla continued writing new business. Flemming Bengtsen, CEO at Nimbla commented: “We have been growing steadily over the past few years, ramping up our technology and team to better understand businesses, the nature of B2B debt and to make faster decisions to serve our growing customer base. 2020 was a seminal year for Nimbla, at a time of global crisis, we were there for businesses enabling them to trade with a peace of mind and giving them confidence to carry on. This funding round will enable us to expand our platform, grow the team as we enable a confident and trusted trading environment for businesses across the UK and beyond”. Nimbla has worked directly with businesses and brokers to provide invoice insurance cover and more recently has launched a new API for Banks, fintech lenders and B2B platforms to enable more business to access the service. Nimbla partnered with Barclays Bank in 2020 to give their one million small business customers the ability to take out insurance against individual invoices, rather than the whole book. “We have built a powerful and robust credit risk model, automated large parts of the process and have now launched a new API to enable others to embed seamless credit risk solutions into their platforms” added Flemming Bengtsen. On investing in funding round Henry Cashin, Head of EMEA at Fin VC, commented: “Nimbla is giving businesses the confidence to trade again. They have a proven credit risk model and its tech is being adopted by top tier banks and a host of lending platforms. We believe this will scale their reach and help more businesses benefit long term”. Looking ahead, Flemming Bengtsen commented: “UK companies have added £1.9tn debt in 2020 to their balance sheets, taking the total amount outstanding to over £6.6tn. This number was inflated by the various government loan schemes. Over half of them are carrying ‘toxic debts’ which carries enormous risk for their trade creditors, there is a huge opportunity and responsibility for Nimbla to give companies a peace of mind and insure their invoices against insolvencies”. About Nimbla Nimbla makes sure businesses get paid for their hard work, even if a customer becomes insolvent. Founded in 2016, the company is on a mission to give SMEs the confidence to trade with a peace of mind using invoice insurance. Nimbla’s digital insurance platform backed by expert risk analysts, allows businesses to check a buyer’s ability to pay and insure individual invoices against non-payment in a fast and affordable way. This will enable business owners to safeguard against insolvent customers, expand into new and existing markets and secure better borrowing terms. The platform can be accessed directly (www.nimbla.com) and through partnerships with Barclays and insurance brokers. Based in London, Nimbla aims to bring the trade credit industry into the 21st century. Challenging traditional insurance models, the cover is flexible and adapts to fit your business — whether it’s a one-off invoice or multiple transactions. Contact Details Nimbla Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://www.nimbla.com/

November 03, 2021 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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SMEs “keep calm and carry on” despite rising costs from suppliers

Stockwood Strategy

Supply chain issues and increasing costs have impacted SMEs countrywide and yet they seem to be handling it in their usual resilient stride. Fintech business lender MarketFinance asked 1,000 SME owners 1 across the UK how they are managing rising supplier prices, what measures they have put in place and sought their long term outlook on the increasing costs of doing business. Supplier costs Four out of five (79%) SMEs have faced increased prices from suppliers over the past 6 months. An increase of cost of raw materials was the top ranked rationale for price increases by suppliers, most keenly felt by businesses in the north west of England (85%). This was followed by staff shortages, the ongoing impact of the pandemic slowdown and supply chain disruptions owing to a shortage of truck drivers. Across the UK, a quarter of SMEs reported supplier prices have almost doubled over the past 6 months. Impact A third of SMEs (32%) have been able to absorb the increased costs without passing them on to customers, suggesting that these businesses have the necessary cash reserves to handle the impact. Only a fifth (21%) are passing a portion of the increased costs onto customers. Businesses in the south west of England and Northern Ireland are least likely to absorb the costs while businesses in the north west and Yorkshire are the most likely to do so. Their customers are proving to be equally understanding of the wider supply chain situation with only a fifth (20%) challenging business owners about the price rises. Outlook Looking ahead to the festive season, SMEs feel they will be able to manage the situation but some could increase prices if the pressure gets too much. Two fifths reported they could increase their prices by as much as 10% in the run up to Christmas. Longer term, three quarters (73%) of SMEs are already preparing for the current higher prices to be the norm until at least the end of 2022. A third of SMEs (34%) have taken out loans or are using other finance facilities to manage the increased cost of doing business. Anil Stocker, CEO at MarketFinance, commented: “ The current economic environment with rising costs is presenting some headwinds and headaches for SME owners but they are proving to be as resilient as ever. The vast majority have been thinking ahead and accounted for the longer term scenario, which will hold them in good stead to do business. It’s great to see that SME owners are taking the long view and preserving their customer relationships and managing suppliers by having a finance facility in place to deal with the overhead for now. The British Business Bank announced last week that it will extend its Recovery Loan Scheme to June 2022. This extension will give SMEs easier access to more affordable finance they need to continue running and growing operations in the face of ongoing challenges such as staff shortages and supplier price increases.” 1 Research findings based on a survey of 1,000 UK companies (who are employers with a minimum turnover of £100,000) conducted for MarketFinance in October 2021 by LMRMC Research (a Market Research Society approved partner and ESOMAR corporate member). About MarketFinance MarketFinance is a fintech business lender which believes that SMEs are building the world. By making finance frictionless, they’re solving the cash flow issues getting in the way of progress. MarketFinance uses smart technology to deliver better access to faster, more affordable finance; with one-to-one help whenever businesses need it. Since 2011, MarketFinance has advanced over £2.6 billion worth of invoices and loans, enabling thousands of UK businesses to bridge today’s funding gaps and fuel tomorrow’s big ambitions. MarketFinance is an accredited Recover Loan Scheme lender and has a wide-reaching network of strategic partners including Barclays Bank UK PLC, Tide, Equals Group and Ebury. MarketFinance is backed by Barclays Bank UK PLC, Mouro Capital, Paul Forster (co-founder of Indeed.com) European venture capital fund Northzone (invested in Klarna, iZettle and Trustpilot), Viola Capital and private equity group MCI Capital (also invested in iZettle, Azimo and Gett). Contact Details MarketFinance Bilal Mahmood +44 7714 007257 b.mahmood@stockwoodstrategy.com Company Website https://marketfinance.com/

November 02, 2021 10:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

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