Businesses saw the main benefits of leasing IT equipment as the ability to upgrade easily (42%), cashflow benefits (35%) and being economical (31%).

“The constant change in the technology sector naturally lends ICT equipment to leasing rather then owning. That’s why businesses are choosing to lease over purchasing technology for the simple reason that leasing delivers substantial cost savings and capital can be invested elsewhere in the business,” says Paul Beattie, Managing Director of Equico, who conducted the research.

“While the potential tax advantages of leasing vary from business to business, we get feedback that this is another reason why business opt to lease equipment. We’d suggest businesses speak with their accountant to see if any tax advantages apply to their situation.”

Three-quarters (71%) of respondents stated that their business had not put off investing in IT equipment due to the current economic environment.

Nine out of ten respondents said they invested in ICT to increase productivity, but one in three admitted to not knowing how much capital their business had tied up in ICT equipment.

Over a third of businesses (36%) confessed that they had invested in IT equipment that they did not use, or did not use optimally.

“Looking forward businesses have reaffirmed the importance of having the right ICT tools, with three quarters saying that their ICT budgets would remain the same or increase, with the majority of the investment going into computers and servers,” added Beattie.