ONLY 3% OF BUSINESSES EXPECT BLOCKCHAIN TO PLAY A PART IN THEIR GROWTH IN 2019, SAYS NEW REPORT.
Just 3% of businesses in the UK expect blockchain to play a part in their growth in 2019, according to a new Business Census of business leaders’ expectations for the year ahead.
The survey, conducted by global credit company Creditsafe and completed by 755 business leaders, revealed that almost just 3% expect to use blockchain to support their growth, with a further 53% ‘unsure’.
In her predictions for 2019, Martha Bennett, Principal Analyst at Forrester, declared that “There’s a real risk that we’ll experience the beginning of a “blockchain winter,” as the continued absence of miracles and revolutionary developments leads decision makers to throw out the proverbial baby with the bath water and stop distributed ledger technology related investments completely.”
She added: “While this wouldn’t have a major immediate impact on innovation in the wider ecosystem of public blockchains and ambitious startups, it would be a serious setback for the development of enterprise grade solutions and networks.”
Speaking of the results, Creditsafe’s UK CEO Chris Robertson said: “It’s been a memorable year for businesses in Britain, with Brexit dominating the media headlines and uncertainty around our role in the EU still rife.
“The Business Census is intended to provide a snapshot of the state of UK business based on experience, as opposed to just statistics. The impact of economic uncertainty on the optimism of business leaders for 2019 will undoubtedly gain the attention of business bodies and the government, who should take note of these less tangible, yet still important, impacts of their actions.”
The Census also found that businesses across the UK expect their biggest challenges to be the economy and recruitment.
Despite their fears, 90% of UK businesses expects to grow in 2019.
UK economic growth has been under pressure since a strong performance this summer, with the Bank of England expecting a 0.2% increase in GDP for the final three months of 2018 and forecasting a similar rate for the first quarter of 2019.
To view the full findings of the report, please visit https://www.creditsafe.com/gb/en/more/hub/business-census-2019.html .
For further information about the findings of this report, please email james.watkins@impression.co.uk.