Green shoots evident in Chamber survey
CONFIDENCE is continuing to improve among manufacturers and service providers in the region, according to the latest survey from Greater Manchester Chamber.
Chris Fletcher, deputy chief executive of the organisation, said “green shoots” were emerging, but warned they could be killed “by the frost of new legislation or increased taxes.”
The Chamber’s latest Quarterly Economic Survey indicates that business confidence is at its highest level since the first quarter of 2008.
This increase was reflected by a growth in sales and orders. Manufacturing saw the biggest improvement with UK sales up 18% and UK orders up 30%. Exports saw even stronger growth with sales up 28% and orders up 20%.
Mr Fletcher said: “The Government must not do anything that could harm this recovery. What businesses need now is a period of stability to build on these positive results.”
For manufacturers, the biggest concerns were the cost of raw materials and the level of exchange rates.
Though not performing as well as manufacturing, the service still saw improvement with UK sales up by 4% and UK orders up by 13%.
“This is the third consecutive quarter that we’ve seen an improvement in business fortunes, so there is some real cause for optimism,” added Fletcher
The survey also found there had been a rise in the number of employers recruiting new staff:
