More than half of UK firms now mobile-only

According to the findings of the survey of British small business owners, 59% of businesses regard their mobile phone as “the most essential item to running their company”. Alongside this, 73% of business owners said they couldn’t do so without reliable broadband and mobile connectivity.

The use of mobile data by business customers has also increased 16% year-on-year in the last three years according to BT’s data.

Commenting on the study’s findings, Chris Sims, managing director of small and medium enterprise at BT, said that connectivity was crucial across British start-ups and scale-ups. Sims added that “reliable and fast connectivity is the backbone of small and medium businesses up and down the UK.”

The investigation by BT Business showed more than half of entrepreneurs have embraced flexible working, and use mobiles rather than laptops or desktops. Flexibility is another motivator for current entrepreneurs, with breaking free from the “traditional 9 to 5” (26%) and being able to work from anywhere in the world (22 per cent) cited as other top reasons for having launched a business in the digital age.