Things are looking better economically but what are the financial implications of this recovery? What are the safety nets? And where is the cashflow?

Reading one of the nationals last week, I came across a piece about the “huge £600 billion cash pile of 50 super-rich firms”.

It said: “This is more than a third of the world’s cash reserves, and the hoarding of a huge sum could put the brakes on global recovery.”

If this money had been spread wider, with more emphasis on investment, the economy might be better stimulated.

So where are we at with the small and micro business sector?

The latest biennial Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) research tells us that just under half of FSB businesses use external finance.

The majority are repaying formal finance from banks and company credit cards, as well as informal finance from friends, family, personal credit cards and savings.

Net lending figures from the major banks remain negative but gross lending that is just new-term lending is showing a small increase. However, repayment of debt is a priority for small business.

What it really boils down to is profitability. A third of FSB members say this has risen in the past year, and a third say the opposite. But the proportion indicating a decrease has fallen from the 54% reported in 2011.

There are clear indications younger members are helping to drive this increase in profitability, with 43% of those under 35 reporting a rise. Could this be the digital technology focus emerging?

If we look at the type of companies that hold that £600bn, we see it is topped by the likes of Apple, Microsoft, Google, Verizon, Pfizer, Cisco and Oracle. This shows the power of digital and telecoms technology and pharmaceuticals.

And in spite of government hopes to revive manufacturing, the business service sector still dominates in the UK. This financial year has been more challenging for health, social work and retailing.

We have heard a great deal from ministers about help for retailing but many schemes and reforms have yet to make the difference.

Fundamentally, in that sector it is issues such as business rates, parking and planning that need more work.