This research comes as Stephen Welton, Chief Executive of the Business Growth Fund, an organisation that invests money in businesses that want to grow, outlined his goal of supporting ambitious entrepreneurs who want to create jobs and nurture growth.

According to the ERC, the main reasons for a lack of growth ambition were, in order, the capabilities of management teams, skills shortages, and access to finance. This lack of ambition can stifle national growth at a time when the UK’s productivity is already falling behind that of it’s European counterparts, so what can be done to encourage UK businesses that they will have a real chance to grow if they pursue it? Taking the concerns highlighted by the ERC in order:

How can those in senior positions get the support and training they need to be confident of going for growth? National mentoring organisations like Business is Great and Mentors Me can help, as can Buckinghamshire Business First. As mentioned last month in a BBF newsletter article, our business support team are on a mission to create a bank of local mentors who can share their skills and expertise with others. Email heatherm@bbf.uk.com or call 01494 568941 for more information.

What about skills shortages? Different businesses and sectors will have different needs of course, but with Buckinghamshire’s schools turning out the best educated students in the land, there is reason to be optimistic locally. Three quarters of Buckinghamshire businesses that recruited from university in 2014 found students to be well or very well prepared for work. Far from a lack of technical skills, the main issue was a lack of experience.

Buckinghamshire Business First and the Buckinghamshire Thames Valley Local Enterprise Partnership (BTVLEP) are engaging with schools in order to raise students’ aspirations and educate them as the work opportunities available to them. Businesses need to keep up their end of the bargain and ensure that they are willing to offer these work opportunities to those leaving education.

Access to finance? There are, at the time of writing, 597 sources of funding and support available via the government website. While a lot of these are available only regionally, there is plenty of national support, as well as those that will be available locally to you.

We know that many of you do want to grow. Our recent Business Confidence Indicator found that 92% of you have ambitions to grow in the next 12 months. All of the support available means that no business owner should be suffering a lack of ambition, or the drive to grow.

We have a Growth Expert on hand to help at one of our Ask the Expert sessions, the next one is Friday 10 July at the BBF Hub in Saunderton.

You can also get in touch with our expert business support team who are here to offer you bespoke advice on any issue you have. Email BusinessSupport@bbf.uk.com or call 01494 568941.

Find out about the Business Growth Fund to see if it could help you >

Visit the Buckinghamshire Business First online support tool to find support on growth, funding and more.

Let us know what your own barriers to growth are. Are you reluctant to pursue growth for a particular reason? Email BBF’s Head of Economic Research Rupert Waters with your thoughts: Rupert@bbf.uk.com.