1 in 6 UK firms are turning zombie – could you be next?
Here’s something you might not realise: thousands of UK mid-market businesses are becoming zombies - earning just enough to keep going, but not enough to thrive.
New figures from BDO show that a worrying 1 in 6 firms with turnovers between £10m - £500m are stuck in this "zombie" state. That’s up from 12.4% to 15.9% in just one year.
Why does this matter? Because no business sets out to become a zombie. It happens quietly, through squeezed margins, hidden inefficiencies and slow erosion of profit. Before you know it, you’re stuck. Not growing, not innovating, just surviving.
Mid-market growth is happening, yet profits aren’t keeping pace.
30% of single-site businesses reported monthly cost increases in March 25.
Costs are rising faster than any time since April 2023.
The hidden efficiency gap
The uncomfortable truth? For many businesses, the risk of becoming a zombie business doesn’t stem from strategy. It stems from operations. From the way stock is managed. From the hours lost in manual processes. From finance not having visibility into where time, money, and margin are being lost.
- Working capital is stuck in the system
- Operational complexity has multiplied with channel and product expansion
- System sprawl has led to siloed data and unclear accountability
Yet many of these issues aren’t on the balance sheet - until they are.
What are resilient firms doing differently?
They’re not waiting until cash flow runs dry. They’re:
- Auditing the true cost of inefficiency
- Quantifying ROI from targeted operational changes
- Aligning Finance and Ops around clear performance goals
- Making informed system changes - with full margin visibility
This isn’t about software for software’s sake. It’s about protecting your business model.
Time for a review?
If your business is experiencing margin pressure, rising costs or operational complexity that doesn’t seem to go away - you’re not alone. But the sooner you get visibility into what’s working (and what’s not), the sooner you can take back control.
Our free ROI Review is designed to help mid-market firms do exactly that:
- Identify where inefficiencies are costing you most
- Quantify where system changes will make the biggest impact
- Build a roadmap that turns survival into scalable growth
Book your free ROI Review today and stop inefficiency from becoming the silent killer in your business.
