Humber businesses ‘feeling the pressure’ in challenging economic environment
The economic environment for businesses in the Humber is proving to be more challenging, according to economic survey for the fourth quarter of 2018.
Research carried out by the Hull & Humber Chamber of Commerce revealed a drop in export sales and orders, home orders, investment and training. Employment, however, slightly increased in the last months of the year.
The survey also found that turnover and profit expectations for the next three months were also significantly down.
Home sales finished the year by only dropping one point on the quarter three figure of 25. home orders, however, fell by 28 points to a balance figure of zero, having held relatively steady in quarter 2 and 3.
Export sales also slightly fell from 27 points in Q3 to 21 in Q4, whereas export orders plummeted by 28 points from quarter three to a balance figure of 10.
The survey found that employment in the last three months rose by 16 points on Q3 to a balance figure of 44 with 10% more firms recruiting staff in the latter part of the year.
68%t of respondents said they had tried to recruit staff in this quarter, with more companies trying to fill full-time positions and permanent jobs. Part-time positions fell slightly, while the number of temporary jobs almost halved compared to Q3.
The number of companies looking to fill management posts and unskilled or semi-skilled roles were both up, while skilled manual and clerical positions fell towards the end of the year.
In addition, Investment in plant and machinery fell by 27 points last quarter to a balance figure of zero, and investment in training fell four points to a balance figure of 29.
After a strong second and third quarter, turnover expectations dropped by 14 points this quarter to 29, and profit expectations also decreased by 40 points to a balance figure of 10.
Dr Ian Kelly, Chamber chief executive, said: “These results clearly show that the Humber economy is feeling a degree of pressure as we head into the first months of 2019.
“Most of the key balances have recorded a drop in the last quarter of 2018, but there is still scope to be optimistic as employment in the region rose in the last three months and expected employment for the first three months of 2019 is only down slightly on the last quarter and is the same as the figure for the second quarter of 2018.
“There are the usual concerns about the ability of firms to recruit the right staff for the vacancies, particularly for senior positions, but it is encouraging to see that many of these vacancies are for full-time positions, and that figure rose in this survey.
“Although turnover and profit expectations are down this quarter, it is good to see that the number of companies investing in training is holding its own”.
