According to the authors of the report, small businesses – those with the fewer than 250 employees – have the most to gain as they can expect an additional £56 billion boost if they get access to the latest digital capabilities.
There is big money at stake here and it is spread across all industries. However, the opportunity is the greatest for professional and tech services firms. It is estimated that they could add £27 billion a year in industry revenues. Other sectors that could gain significantly are wholesale and retail (£17 billion a year), manufacturing (£9 billion a year), financial services (£9 billion a year) and transportation and storage (£8 billion a year). While the potential gains for SMEs are geographically spread across the UK, the opportunity is greatest in London (a potential £48.5 billion boost). If you belong to any of these industries and have ambitions to grow, you must extract maximum value from digitizing your business’ customer experience, workforce and operations.
Commenting on the report, Peter Kelly, managing director, Virgin Media Business, said: “The incredible pace of change means there is no place to hide, or room to stand still. Any business with ambitions to grow through digital needs to invest in the right technology and skills, while the Government and industry have to deliver the infrastructure and support to help them.”
We feel that the world is rapidly changing and burying your head in the ground will not make things disappear. When all is said and done, it won’t be a matter of whether the value will be created in the coming years, but rather who will capture the lion’s share. If you don’t prepare, you will be overtaken by the more nimble digital players. Digital is here to stay.
