80% of British small businesses believe they have shown resilience at its best throughout the pandemic.
79% noted that they have had to adapt their business throughout the pandemic, but 75% feel optimistic about their company's future.
As we say goodbye to lockdown restrictions, new research from Sky Connect, Sky's new B2B telecoms business, celebrates the strength and adaptability of British small businesses with a third revealing that the secret to their resilience over the past year is sheer hard work and motivation. The majority of the UK's SMEs (80%) - which make up over 99% of the business population - believe they have shown resilience at its best throughout the pandemic.
In fact, SMEs have fared better than larger businesses with Local Data Company research revealing that the independent retail and leisure market was more resilient than chains. With 66% of small businesses agreeing that they are more resilient than larger businesses.
Over this past year, businesses across the UK have had to deal with a lot of change, with almost a third of British SMEs saying they have felt anxious and 79% noting that they have had to adapt their business. However, during this incredibly tough time for small businesses, over half have lent a helping hand to another business in need, with London's SMEs being the most generous across the UK (69%).
Kevin O'Toole, Managing Director, Sky Connect said: It's been a tough year for British small businesses. But it's testament to their resilience that many of our smallest businesses are among the most adaptable - and the most optimistic about the future. It was no surprise to me to see that they've bounced back better than larger firms. At Sky Connect, we believe that small businesses should be provided with as much support, and the best tools as possible to grow and recover."
Mike Cherry, Federation of Small Businesses National Chair, said: Sky Connect's research shines a new light on how small businesses have coped through COVID and the public health restrictions. The resilience of the country's 6 million small business owners has never been more on display than it has during this pandemic. Small firms helped each other, engaged in their local communities and did their bit to get through to the other side of the crisis. After incredibly tough times, confidence and optimism among small businesses is now bouncing back. They are ready to innovate, reinvent themselves, connect to customers and drive the recovery.
Thankfully, 75% said they feel optimistic about the future of their business as we come out of lockdown and almost a third (32%) of UK's small businesses say that they have felt more resilient thanks to the strength of their staff over the past year.
In fact, the UK's most optimistic industries are manufacturing (87%), healthcare (85%), and construction (81%). But even the hardest hit sectors are positive about the future, with 80% of food service, 73% of retail and automotive and 71% of travel agent SMEs currently feeling optimistic for their businesses.
Bronwyn Lowenthal, Founder of London-based sustainable womenswear brand Lowie said: The pandemic has been one of the biggest challenges for the business since Lowie was founded nearly twenty years ago. But we used our passion for what we do to work hard, push us through the tough times and adapt to a fully online business during lockdowns. The work we put in to reach customers online has benefited us long-term and we're now feeling very optimistic about the future of the brand as we continue to improve our ecommerce offerings and create beautiful handcrafted designs we know our customers will love.
Kyle Parchment, Founder of Birmingham-based vegan food delivery service Jam N Vegan said: While the pandemic presented challenges for us and many local businesses, we were determined to keep the business running at all costs and continue to provide the community and our loyal customers with tasty and sustainable vegan meals to help see them through the depths of lockdown. Witnessing the incredible positive response from our customers, who have truly rallied around us during this difficult time, has made us more and more optimistic for the future and shown that hard work really does pay off.
Sky Connect is a new entrant in the UK B2B telecoms market focused on partnering with small businesses to provide them with a better broadband experience, offering purpose-built business products, exceptional service, and simple pricing with no hidden fees. Created with reliability in mind, Sky Connect offers Connection Pro', an automatic 4G back-up service, as well as VoiceEdge' - the UK's most feature-rich* inclusive digital phone service for small businesses, helping them to manage their calls from anywhere and everywhere.
To support small businesses in bouncing back from the pandemic, Sky recently launched SME100, a £2 million+ support scheme for UK SME's. The scheme offered 100 small businesses £20,000 of free TV advertising across Sky Media's channels, as well as a free 12-month superfast broadband and digital phone package, courtesy of Sky Connect.
For more information on Sky Connect and the survey results visit: https://businessconnect.sky.com/smepandemicresilience.
For more information please contact
Charlotte Mitchell, Head of PR & Communications, Sky Connect: charlotte.mitchell2@sky.uk
Sky Connect press office: skyconnect@fightflight.co.uk
Survey methodology
Sky Connect commissioned a Censuswide research survey of 2,000 UK SME decision makers on 13th to 24th May 2021. The research highlights the resilience of SMEs across the UK during the pandemic and how optimistic they are feeling about their future.
*Most Feature Rich: Based on a comparison of any of Sky Connect's business broadband and voice packages
Europe Stories
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
03/03/2026
For many, finding time or headspace to pick up a book can feel out of reach, but...
03/03/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Realtek demonstrate first test solution for Bluetooth LE Hi...
03/03/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
03/03/2026
Luxembourg, 2 March 2026 -- SES S.A. fully consolidates Intelsat from 17 July 2025 and announces financial results for the year ended 31 December 2025
FY25 Pe...
03/03/2026
03 Mar 2026
VEON and MeetKai Expand Collaboration to Explore Sovereign AI Infra...
03/03/2026
Tuesday 3 March 2026
Sky releases official trailer for The Miniature Wife, a Sk...
03/03/2026
Tuesday 3 March 2026
Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac land first ever live commentary ...
03/03/2026
Tuesday 3 March 2026
The Dyers' Caravan Park reopens for a second season after a hit launch on Sky
The Dyers' Caravan Park
JPEG (510KB)
Sky books a ...
03/03/2026
Harmonic's cOS Virtualized Broadband Platform Simplifies Network Operations, Lowers Hardware Dependency and Enables Seamless DOCSIS and Fiber Growth SAN JO...
03/03/2026
Comscore to Announce Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Financial ResultsRESTON, VA, March 3, 2026 Comscore, Inc. (Nasdaq: SCOR), a trusted partner for plannin...
03/03/2026
Self-taught on iMovie, Hanagami transitioned to Final Cut Pro in 2009, discovering that professional tools could give him full creative control over how his wor...
03/03/2026
RT Media Sales has announced Spry Finance has renewed it's sponsorship of M...
02/03/2026
Rohde & Schwarz demonstrates FR1-FR3 carrier aggregation, advancing 6G readiness Rohde & Schwarz and Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. have reached another pivotal ...
02/03/2026
aconnic AG (ISIN: DE000A0LBKW6), Munich, and Arqit Quantum Inc. (Nasdaq: ARQQ, A...
02/03/2026
Luxembourg, February 26, 2026 - SES and Africa Mobile Network (AMN) have expande...
02/03/2026
Monday 2 March 2026
Saturday Night Live UK announces writing team
L-R: Jonno Johnson; Charlie Skelton; Celya AB; Omar Badawy; Gr inne Maguire; Laura Claxton; ...
27/02/2026
Since its inception, Gorillaz has been known for blending art with genre-bending...
27/02/2026
This week, Spotify introduced Audiobook Charts for the U.S. and U.K. The charts make it easy to discover your next favorite book by showing what's popular a...
27/02/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Viasat to collaborate on NB-NTN IoT test plan for connectivi...
27/02/2026
In media technology, big features often steal the spotlight - AI integrations, cloud transformations, automation frameworks. But for the people who use these to...
27/02/2026
Digital Asset Management systems sit at the heart of most marcoms operations. They centralise content, organise it, and make it discoverable. Integrated with th...
27/02/2026
The AI Wild West comes to NAB 2026 and Blue Lucy is bringing the Sheriff
The AI Wild West is here, and media organisations are feeling the heat. On Booth W23...
27/02/2026
A deeply personal, uncompromising portrait of the legendary punk rock iconFriday...
27/02/2026
One of Ireland's favourite lifestyle shows Home of the Year, returns for its 12th series and will be proudly sponsored by SIRO. The brand-new series will ai...
27/02/2026
Our Farm: A GIY Story lands on RT One and RT Player from March 3
From walled garden to community farm, new six-part series captures the unfiltered realities...
27/02/2026
Note: English version included below the Irish language version.
Seachtain na Gaeilge 2026 ar RT
A Ghaeilge mo cheol th '
T feachtas athnuaite i n...
26/02/2026
Rohde & Schwarz awarded contract by Israel Airports Authority for QPS201 securit...
26/02/2026
Rohde & Schwarz highlights its unique CMX500 one-box tester tailored for NTN tes...
26/02/2026
Rohde & Schwarz high-efficiency transmitter powers next-gen broadcast services i...
26/02/2026
Rohde & Schwarz highlights its comprehensive embedded systems test solutions at ...
26/02/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to showcase spectrum security and network efficiency solutions a...
26/02/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Broadcom showcase first Wi-Fi 8 RF signaling tests, paving w...
26/02/2026
Rohde & Schwarz advances AI-RAN testing using digital twins with NVIDIA Rohde & Schwarz, in collaboration with NVIDIA, continues to drive AI-RAN innovation fo...
26/02/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and LITEON demonstrate high throughput 5G femtocell testing with...
26/02/2026
The agreement ensures Europe's satellite-based augmentation continues enhanc...
26/02/2026
There were two big wins for RT KIDS shows at the 17th Kidscreen Awards in San Diego this week with Maddie Triggs and BeddyByes both taking home gongs.
The K...
26/02/2026
26 Feb 2026
VEON to Release FY25 Earnings Update on March 13, 2026 Dubai and New York, February 26, 2026 - VEON Ltd. (NASDAQ: VEON), a global digital operator ...
26/02/2026
What can I watch on UKTV and stream on U this week?
This week's highlights include new episodes of Will and Ralf Should Know Better, The Marlow Murder Club...
26/02/2026
Thursday 26 February 2026
Sky partners with STARZ on high-impact boxing drama F...
26/02/2026
Thursday 26 February 2026
An Open Letter to Our Fellow Leaders in Global Media
From:
Tim Davie, BBC Director-General
Jon Slade, CEO, Financial Times
Anna B...
26/02/2026
Wuppertal February 26, 2026
Teatro alla Scala Elevates Backstage Communication with Riedel's BoleroRiedel Communications today announced that Fondazione T...
26/02/2026
RT has confirmed that it has today received payment from the GAA for its 50% share of GAAGO.
RT confirmed in February 2025 that it had agreed in principle wi...
26/02/2026
RT Statement regarding the broadcast of Republic of Ireland vs Israel Nations League fixture
If the match goes ahead and that is a decision for the FAI as ...
25/02/2026
It's never been easier to customize your Spotify listening experience. Last year, we introduced more control over the way your playlist sounds, giving Premi...
80% of British small businesses believe they have shown resilience at its best throughout the pandemic.
