Covid disruption to business has forced firms to invest in new technologies

British businesses have used the disruption brought about by enforced remote working to invest in new digital technologies, which has led to greater commercial growth.

This is the key finding from new research carried out by Bristol-based cloud-based accounting software platform, bluQube. The timely report lifts the lid on business leaders’ attitudes toward digital transformation and technologies in a unique, cross-sector way.

The research, which is compiled in the bluQube: Digital Transformation & Next-Gen Business Technologies report reveals that remote working led to over three quarters (76%) of businesses bringing forward plans to invest and implement new digital technologies.

With an even greater proportion (78%) identifying those same digital technologies as being responsible for driving growth in their businesses, the link between new methods of working, investment in new tech, and accelerated growth is firmly established.

The report also identifies an expectation of continued tech investment to both adapt to new hybrid working practices – in 36% of cases – and almost half (47%) to maintain competitive advantage. Crucially, this 47% figure sees new investments being made within the next five-year window.

Simon Kearsley, CEO of bluQube, commented:

“We’ve become accustomed to reading about the negative impacts of the various lockdowns and changing ways of working, with the economy put into an induced coma as part of the nation’s response to the pandemic.

“However, we can see from our research that the reality is more nuanced and, in fact, many businesses have benefitted significantly by implementing new systems which enable smarter working.

“New technologies are delivering exponential change to organisations around the world and here in the UK, business leaders are fast to adopt new systems which deliver game-changing commercial results.

“In many ways, the story of corporate growth over the last two decades is the story of digital transformation and innovation. We are part of that change and businesses incorporating new systems with the very best of traditional ways of doing business will continue to thrive and prosper.”