Small Business Survey Scotland: 2022-2023

Business Practices

• 25 per cent of SME employers had engaged in process innovation (i.e. introduced new or improved processes for producing or supplying goods or services) in the last three years
• 44 per cent of SME employers in 2022-23 engaged in either products, goods, or process innovation
• 54 per cent of SME employers had arranged or funded training in the previous 12 months. This is 7 per cent higher than in 2021
• 11 per cent of SME employers engaged with Modern Apprenticeship programmes
• 30 per cent of SME employers had used external information or advice on matters affecting their business in the previous 12 months

Figure 3: The most popular reason for using external information/advice was the need for accounting-related financial advice, which was reported by 31 per cent of firms.

Reasons for using information or advice (2022-23). Multiple answers allowed across this question.

Source: Small Business Survey Scotland 2022-2023 from DBT and Scottish Government. For Figure 3 data, see table ‘K4/5’.

• 80 per cent of SME employers paid all their employees aged 18 or over (excluding volunteers, apprentices and interns) the Living Wage as defined by the Living Wage Foundation (£10.90 at the time of the survey)
• of the SMEs in Scotland in 2022-23 who received the Small Business Bonus Scheme (SBBS) relief, a majority (60 per cent)  received relief of between 91 per cent to 100 per cent