Xero : 28/01/2021 - Small business jobs at record high since nationwide COVID-19 lockdown

MEDIA RELEASE

S	all b	i e j	b	a	ec	d high i	ce a i	ide COVID	l	ckd
	Se en h c n ec	i e m n h f Ne Zealand	mall b ine	e en e g	h	ec ded
Welli	g Ne	Zeala	d	Ja	a	​​Xero​the global small business platform today

released Xero Small Business Insights XSBI data for December 2020 which shows small business jobs grew 2 8 in December 3 2 year on year and are 6 4 above pre crisis figures from March 2020

Revenue was also up 1 4 year on year in December marking the seventh consecutive month of positive revenue growth

Across New Zealand all industries except hospitality recorded jobs that were higher than pre crisis

levels Manufacturing 16 9	retail 13 4 and real estate	11 1 led this growth
The hospitality jobs remain below pre crisis levels down 4 9	since March 2020

Xero s Managing Director for New Zealand & Pacific Islands Craig Hudson is stoked to see job growth in the small business sector

It s particularly pleasing to see the jobs growth in our data and that we have more jobs powering the small business economy than we did before the pandemic says Hudson

However the hospitality sector continues to suffer from the challenges arising from the ongoing impacts the COVID 19 pandemic has had on the industry

This is likely driven in part by the ongoing impact of reduced tourist activity in Queenstown It remains the only region with job numbers below pre crisis levels with an 8 1 loss from the first week of March 2020 through to the end of December

2

Overall strong jobs growth can be seen in Hawke s Bay	14 8 Northland 13 3 Wellington
12 3	Canterbury	11 6	and Bay of Plenty	10 9	since March
S ai	ed all b i	e	e e e g	h a i	ide

After falling significantly during the initial Alert Level Four lockdown small business revenue in December recorded a seventh consecutive month of year on year growth 1 4

Construction led this growth up by 19 year on year	followed by professional services ​ 16 real
estate 11	and manufacturing 4
Hospitality recovery continues to struggle down 14	year on year Retail sector revenue was also
down slightly	2 not quite keeping up with the Christmas boost in 2019
Hudson says	Kiwis all around the country have done well to help our small business community

survive what is undoubtedly one of the hardest years they will ever face Now s not the time to take our foot off the gas but to double down and continue supporting local small businesses

Outside of Otago driven by Queenstown there was positive revenue growth across all the regions

In December Wellington saw a 5 2 year on year increase in revenue followed by Canterbury 5 1 Hawke s Bay 3 8 Bay of Plenty 4 7 Waikato 3 5 Auckland 2 7 and

Northland 1 4

Unfortunately Queenstown has been hit hard during December with overall revenue down 21 4 year on year​This is one of the largest year on year industry drops we ve seen since lockdown says​ Hudson

3

When compared to this time in 2019 the impacts of ongoing border restrictions and international travel are now evident as the region misses out on the usual influx of spending from overseas visitors

However seven months of consecutive growth is a phenomenal result for the small business sector which means more Kiwi business owners are able to survive and thrive as we head into 2021

Furthermore the average payment time has become faster across the country with small businesses waiting 24 1 days to be paid on average This is 1 6 days faster than pre crisis and a reduction of 6 6 days from a peak early in the crisis 30 7 days

It s encouraging to see small businesses across the country are on average getting paid faster This means more available cash flow at any given moment an essential part of helping Kiwi businesses

stay open and operational	says Hudson
Ne Zeala d ec e e	ai	g i e a i	all
New Zealand s year on year revenue growth of 1 4	in December is higher than in Australia 2 7
and the United Kingdom	10 3

Jobs figures continue to climb in both New Zealand and Australia while the UK remains relatively flat as the country experiences another wave of lockdown restrictions

The overall picture of Aotearoa s small business economy is one of relative recovery with employment and revenue across most industries tracking well and pointing towards a strong start to 2021

For further information on the Xero Small Business Insights December metrics please refer to the​XSBI U da e f Ne Zeala d​

ENDS

Ab Xe

Xero​is a cloud based accounting software platform for small businesses with 2 45 million subscribers globally Through Xero small business owners and their advisors have access to real time financial data any time anywhere and on any device Xero offers an ecosystem of over 800 third party apps and 200 plus connections to banks and other financial partners In 2020 Xero was included in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index and recognised by IDC​MarketScape​as a leader in its worldwide

SaaS and cloud enabled small business finance and accounting applications vendor assessment

Ab Xe S all B i e I igh

The Xero Small Business Insights XSBI program provides analysis of the sector s health with metrics based on anonymised aggregated data drawn from hundreds of thousands of subscribers in​ partnership with AlphaBeta Australia part of Accenture ​The result is a picture of business conditions that s more accurate than most private surveys which have a far smaller sample size and more frequently updated than other New Zealand data on small business Xero​ is currently producing a

series of specialised monthly metrics which analyse the impact of COVID 19 on the small business sector

Ab Al haBe a A alia a f Acce e

AlphaBeta Australia part of Accenture supports Xero in the production of the Xero Small Business Insights It is a research firm with offices in Sydney Canberra and Melbourne which specialises in combining advanced analytical techniques and innovative data to generate new insights and fresh perspectives on the challenges facing business and government

N e he edi

Previous iterations of the XSBI data have listed snapshots of data from the time it was captured Some of these historical data points change as bookkeepers and accountants finalise their clients accounts which can impact the specifics of the percentages

• ac

Natalie Benning

Head of Communications NZ

natalie benning xero com

021 026 19604