Smaller firms ignore the outside chatter

Each day we would get an update on what their child was doing, where they were and how the trip was going.

Effectively there was a minute by minute update available for any anxious child or parent.

And it seems that this constant communication prevails wherever we are.

Text messages, WhatsApp, Facebook, etc all serve to keep each of us in touch with what’s happening to our nearest and dearest.

We are all connected and, it seems, dependent on each other.

But do we benefit from this constant chatter?

With constant noise about market volatility and political turbulence it is difficult to see what is happening to businesses.

We hear about companies cutting back on spending plans and hiring, but most of these are the largest companies that operate in the UK as part of a global presence.

Smaller companies seem to spend less time listening to outside noise and more time exploiting the opportunities uncertain times offer.

We are more competitive in overseas markets due to devaluation of our currency.

We have great opportunities in markets other than the EU.

The Quoted Companies Alliance surveys over the last five years demonstrate that, smaller listed companies remain optimistic about their own prospects.

Their views on the UK economy wax and wane; but they stay true and positive about their own businesses.

This optimism is backed up by access to finance.

The public markets provide permanent equity capital through thick and thin.

AIM and the main market of the London Stock Exchange provide much needed capital to companies listed there during recessionary times.

IPOs may be down in number but those companies already on the market, with a proven track record, can view the future with relative confidence. The prevailing and unrelenting noise should not distract them.

Over the coming years the Government, law makers, policy makers and regulators must bear in mind that the UK’s engines of growth and their investors will need attention.

Not in an interfering way but in a manner that incentivises and supports them so that they have continual access to finance, enabling growth, employment and wealth creation for the economy and investors.

More than ever they are critical to our future success.

In contrast to perpetual news flow, when my brother went to university, after three weeks with no news, my parents sent him a telegram to find out how he was getting on.

He was doing well, enjoying himself rather too much and occasionally learning to be an architect.

Different times.

Obviously he didn’t need to listen to any parental advice.

Perhaps we should all do the same when it comes to politicians, economists and the media.

Keep calm and trade on.