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Mid-market sets sights on global trade growth. As the global economy continues to display what the IMF calls “remarkable resilience,” mid-market business leaders are being emboldened to explore new export markets in the search to add growth to their revenues.

Optimism among global mid-market business leaders rose to 67% in the first half of this year and they are markedly more optimistic about their prospects.

As the year has progressed, business leaders have grown increasingly confident about their prospects. According to data from the latest International Business Report (IBR), Grant Thornton’s global survey of mid-market companies, optimism among business leaders has risen during 2023.

The Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR) is the world's leading survey of middle-market companies. It was first launched in 1992 in nine European countries, and now interviews around 10,000 senior executives in more than 140 economies each year, providing insights into organizational health and issues affecting both private and listed companies.

Finally, the fourth key insight from the data looks at how business leaders are working to increase productivity. Identifying the areas for investment that will be most effective for bringing about growth and allowing them to stay one step ahead of their competitors.

In order to respond to these threats effectively, firms will need the right teams in place but, as our third key insight demonstrates, hiring and retaining the right talent remains a challenge amid a widescale skills shortage and with inflation adding to firms’ labour costs.

The second area of key insight identifies how this adaptability allows leaders to be constantly looking for opportunities, even as they are faced by some very real threats. The research shows that prime among the issues weighing on their minds are economic uncertainty, inflation and the risk of cyberattack, but they will also be only too aware that current economic turbulence may create other threats.

Mid-market firms using international supply chains have faced significant disruption and headwinds as a consequence of the war in Ukraine, the long tail of COVID disruption, and wider geo-political tensions. However, despite ongoing economic uncertainty, many international business leaders continue to see international trade, and particularly exports, as a key driver for growth.

Entrepreneurial spirit maintains optimism as firms look past slowdown and plan for growth. Business leaders across the globe began this year with a sense of caution. According to data from the International Business Report (IBR), Grant Thornton’s global survey of mid market companies, optimism among business leaders had fallen to 59%, down from a recent high of 70% at the end of 2021.

The global conclusions of the latest research from Grant Thornton's International Business Report (IBR), the world's leading survey of medium-sized companies, were released.

The conclusions of the latest investigation of Grant Thornton's International Business Report (IBR), the world's leading survey of medium-sized companies, which on this occasion focused on the economy, sustainability and issues specific to the country where they operate, were released.

With the Task Force on Climate-related Disclosures (TCFD) already mandatory in some jurisdictions, and increasingly adopted as environmental risk-management by large businesses, acting now will empower mid-market companies to secure their value chains, boost credibility with stakeholders, and ensure future access to vital funding and investment.

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