Mid-cap market calls for mandatory governance code

MORE THAN nine in ten small and mid-cap companies want to see a mandatory corporate governance code that reflects the size and complexity of their business.

According to research from BDO and the Quoted Companies Alliance, 92% of small and mid-cap companies are calling for a corporate governance code for standard listed, AIM and PLUS-quoted companies.

“For such a large number of small and mid-cap quoted companies to actively call for a mandatory corporate governance code shows how confident they are in their current business stewardship standards,” said Scott Knight, Partner at BDO.

The QCA/BDO Small & Mid-Cap Sentiment Index also found optimism in the UK economy has risen sharply from 40.9 in January to 47.3 in April this year. Confidence in companies’ individual prospects for the next 12 months has also increased, from 62.4 in January to 66.1 in March.

“Our clients tell us that they are not seeing the trends identified in the ONS growth statistics and are planning to invest in growth,” said Knight.

In addition, companies are looking to raise capital – 40% of small and mid-cap companies expect to raise finance in the next 12 months and 38% of companies would consider turning to public equity if the need for finance arose in the coming year, the report found.