The UK’s mid-market companies are now growing faster than those in Germany, France and Italy, according to GE Capital’s latest in-depth report on the European mid-market. The average UK mid-market company is set to grow sales by 6.1% in the next 12 months, compared to 4.8% in Germany, 3.4% in France and 3.8% in Italy. This equates to projected UK mid-market revenue growth of £133bn in the next 12 months.

In addition, over the next year, an estimated 326,000 jobs are set to be created by mid-market companies in the UK compared to 150,000 in Germany, as the UK mid-market seeks to accelerate recruitment in response to increasing sales and resultant new capacity. Further, over one in three UK mid-market firms that currently have offshore activities are considering re-shoring some of them over the next three years, helping further boost UK economic growth.

Whilst the outlook for sales and workforce growth is bullish, the findings highlight an emerging skills shortage facing the mid-market. Attracting employees with the right set of skills has emerged as the principal challenge facing the UK mid-market in 2014, followed by attracting top managerial talent and retaining talented employees. This is a shift from the 2013 research, when keeping down business costs and overheads was the top challenge.

Ilaria del Beato, chief executive of GE Capital UK, commented: “The success of the mid-market is crucial for the UK economy. Just 1.7% of all businesses provide over one third of private sector GDP, revenues and employment. Yet whilst the mid-market is thinking bigger, it still has critical challenges to overcome, particularly as the competition for talent becomes much tougher, more so than regulation, keeping costs down, and access to finance.”

To view the full GE Capital research report, click here.