Is UK business and employment changing?

With the UK economy now growing at the fastest rate since 2007 we ask, has the business landscape changed since the days before the credit crunch?

The BBC reports today that "the UK service sector - which makes up more than three-quarters of economic output - rose by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, the ONS said, matching its performance in the previous quarter. And the manufacturing sector grew by 0.9%."

Looking back to previous recessions it is not simply a question of seeing  sales volumes ramp up as the recession ends, but possibly the return to growth is driven by some fundamental restructuring of how businesses are organised. And how this has changed is important to b-2-b marketers to ensure marketing communications are now delivered to the right target audiences through the right channels.

It was recently reported that "a quarter of scientific and technical professionals .. work on a freelance basis, choosing which project to apply their skills to, according to research cited by PCG, the freelancing association." Apparently there are 1.72 million such freelancers contributing £95 billion to the economy! Freelancing is offering ways for companies to grow while minimising risk and cost.

Meanwhile consider another statistic, "2.5 million businesses are now using a home base." Those businesses now represent 52 per cent of the total number of small companies in Britain according to research by Direct Line.

Working with freelancers from a home office myself it is easy to relate to these figures and it is unsurprising that 99.2% of all UK  businesses are classed as small, employing 50 or less and 74% have no employees at all! Why is this not surprising? Entrepreneurs and professionals don't necessarily want to spend their time managing staff and dealing with a raft of employment legislation when instead they can focus on selling their own expertise using a growing pool of networked freelance talent digitally connected to mobile or home based devices. As the Prime Minister said recently, "Our country owes a huge debt of gratitude to those who make their living as freelancers and entrepreneurs. You have not only taken your own future into your own hands, but you are the engine of our economy and economic revival."