New data has shown that December was one of 2020’s worst months for small businesses in the UK, according to data based on hundreds and thousands of small businesses.
The data, produced by global small business platform Xero in partnership with research company Alphabeta (part of Accenture), showed slow signs of recovery through revenue figures during the summer, but this has reversed in recent months. December saw revenues fall 10.3% year-on-year, the biggest drop in revenues since May (-23%).
Xero’s analysis of hundreds of thousands of small businesses, shows a protracted decline in year-on-year revenue growth since the most recent peak (-0.1% year-on-year) in September.
The XSBI data continues to show the impact of restrictions on trading. Hospitality businesses experienced a 52% decline in year-on-year revenue in December.
Small retailer revenues were 10% lower than the previous year in December 2019. This reinforces the new Office for National Statistics (ONS) data suggesting that the volume of retail sales climbed just 0.3% in December from the previous month, with 2020 seeing the biggest drop in retail volumes since records began in 1997.
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