Over a third of small businesses have not yet started preparing for the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).
A further third (35%) are only in the early stages of preparation, claims the new research published today.
Only 8% of small businesses have completed their preparations. In light of the findings, FSB is launching a GDPR awareness raising campaign, dubbed ‘BeDataReady’ in the run up to the 25 May deadline.
In terms of hospitality businesses 53% have not yet started preparations; 21% have started but not completed; just 9% have completed preparations.
Small businesses in the financial services sector are the most prepared with 82 percent of respondents having started or completed their GDPR preparations.
Mike Cherry, FSB national chairman, said: “FSB is in a unique position to reach small businesses and so we’re going to step up efforts to help and support them get data ready, while continuing to make sure the Government implements the regulation in the fairest way for small firms.
“The GDPR is the biggest shake-up in data protection to date and many small businesses will be concerned that the changes will be too much to handle. It’s clear that a large part of the small business community is still unaware of the steps that they need to take to comply and may be left playing catch-up.”
The FSB campaign has been welcomed by UK information commissioner Elizabeth Denham, who said: “Research suggests the SME sector is less prepared than others for the changes. We know that many small businesses are keen to get it right, but with so much misinformation out there it’s difficult for them to know what’s right and what’s not. It is therefore very welcome that FSB is running this campaign.”
