An assessment of viability for firms will ultimately depend on a range of firm and sector specific features and each case will of course be specific to each firm. However, one piece of information that can guide the discussions relates to the performance of SMEs before the pandemic and our research has highlighted two groups that may struggle.
First, 5per cent of SMEs made a loss in 2019 and were struggling in 2020 (making a loss or breaking even), and second, 19 per cent of firms were struggling in 2020 and just breaking even in 2019. All other things equal, such firms may be more vulnerable to liquidation as the pandemic evolves and insolvency criteria begin to normalise.