Businesses in the south east have stepped up their protection against cyber threats in 2019, but a lack of interest in other digital tactics could be holding them back, according to a new report.

Lloyds Bank’s latest annual Business Digital Index (BDI), the largest of its kind into digital skills, polled 1,500 small businesses across the UK, with 159 from the south east.

The report combines survey data with businesses' transactional data to understand their digital behaviours and intentions.

The security index for the region, which outlines whether firms are protecting themselves against hackers and fraudsters, has shot up by 10 points on last year to 47. An index reading of zero indicates a lack of online cybersecurity capabilities while a reading of 100 shows robust defensive measures are in place.

The figures also showed that more than three quarters of firms (76%) had already invested in their cyber security skills, or planned to in future, compared with 78% nationally.

But despite these advances in cyber security, a lack of essential digital skills could be hampering opportunities to boost sales or productivity. More than four in 10 south east firms (44%) lacked the full range, in line with the national average.

South east businesses had limited appetite to build their digital strategy and leadership skills too, with fewer than half (46%) either having done so or planning to do so in future. This compared with 44% nationally.

The region fell below the UK average when it came to building skills in search engine optimisation (SEO) (47%, four points below UK average), but they performed slightly higher than average in building social media and marketing skills (56%, one point above UK average), and customer data analytics (43%), two points above the UK average.

Tara Foley, Lloyds Banking Group’s ambassador for the south east, said: “Firms in the region are more at risk of cyber threats than other UK regions, with a quarter of businesses reporting they’d experienced a cyber-attack, so it’s encouraging to see the steps that local businesses are taking to protect themselves.

“But they could still be missing out on a huge opportunity by not actively growing their wider digital skills.

“Our research found that an average small business in the UK with strong digital skills and behaviours earned around £260,000 more a year. This is money that could be spent on hiring more staff, training employees and growing the business.

“The south east and London account for more than half of the UK tech economy. To maintain this position it’s vital that businesses continue to grow their digital capabilities and invest in SEO, social media marketing and data analytics.”

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