A seemingly bracing call to action has been issued to UK SMEs by a digital skills training provider: Adopt better project management practices or continue losing billions annually through inefficiencies and informal working methods.
The Coder’s Guild has compiled data from a number of industry sources which appears to reveal that poor project delivery and unstructured work cost UK SMEs tens of billions each year. Knowledge workers lose an average of 13.7 hours per week – equivalent to over £13,000 per employee annually – through tool-hopping, duplication, and unclear task ownership. In a typical five-person team, that’s £66,000 of wasted salary value every year.
“These hidden losses are avoidable – and fixable,” said Crispin Read, founder of The Coders Guild.
“Most SMEs rely on ‘accidental’ project managers with no formal training. That’s not sustainable. Project leadership is a skill, not a side job. And the ROI on getting it right is phenomenal.”
The £94 billion opportunity
According to research from Be the Business, a not-for-profit that assists SMEs boost productivity and performance, a sustained 1% annual productivity uplift across the UK’s 5.6 million SMEs would raise national output by £94 billion, equating to around £65,000 in extra profit per small firm.
“Just 1% better project execution each year is enough to unlock transformative national growth,” Read continued. “Our mission is to help SMEs seize that opportunity – team by team, project by project.”
Industry-wide benchmarking (PMI) shows that organisations waste 11.4% of every project pound due to delays, overruns and failures. For a typical £150k SME project, that’s £17,100 lost outright – whereas firms applying best-practice methods lose just £7,200.
Despite this, only 47% of projects are led by trained professionals and fewer than half of firms offer any accredited PM training (Wellingtone).
The Coders Guild’s says its Project Management programmes offer SMEs immediate solutions:
- Government-Funded Courses: Many options are fully subsidised, removing cost barriers for employers.
- Industry-Led Curriculum: Learners master tools like Trello, Asana, and Monday.com while building practical skills in agile delivery, communication, and risk management.
- Tangible ROI: Participating employers consistently report reduced waste, faster delivery, and better cross-functional alignment within weeks.
“Proper project management isn’t overhead – it’s the shortest route to improved margins and happier teams,” said Read. “With simple tools like Kanban boards, project charters, and risk logs, SMEs can cut wasted time by hours per week per person.”
In today’s climate of economic pressure and competitive intensity, SMEs cannot afford inefficiency. Accredited PM training can halve wasted investment from 8.8% to just 4.8% – a straightforward way to protect margins and improve delivery outcomes.
The Coders Guild suggests that proactive business leaders can explore its Project Management Apprenticeships and Skills Bootcamps as a fast route to capturing lost value. For more information, visit: https://thecodersguild.org.uk/project-monster
