More North West firms plan to create jobs as business confidence holds steady
More North West firms are planning to create jobs this year as confidence held steady, despite ongoing political and economic uncertainty, according to January’s Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking.
Companies’ confidence in their business prospects rose by two points to 29% in the first month of 2019, while firms’ optimism in the wider economy dropped by one point to 11%.
Together this gives a robust overall confidence reading of 19%, which is unchanged from the end of last year.
Businesses’ hiring intentions showed that a net balance of 15% of businesses in the region expect to hire more staff during the next year, up two points on last month.
This uptick comes despite a net balance of 13% of companies in the North West saying they felt that the UK’s exit from the European Union was having a negative impact on their expectations for business activity.
This compares with a net balance of eight per cent that thought it was having a positive impact a month ago.
Across the UK, overall confidence rose two points to 19% as firms’ optimism about the economy climbed three points to 10%. Companies’ confidence in their own prospects edged up one point to 27%.
The Business Barometer questions 1,200 businesses monthly and provides early signals about UK economic trends, both regionally and nationwide.
Martyn Kendrick, regional director for Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “It’s great to see that, at the start of 2019, North West companies are increasingly optimistic about their own prospects for the year ahead and are putting that confidence into action by planning to create new jobs.
“This is particularly encouraging given the backdrop of continued uncertainty domestically and falling global demand.
“The swing from eight per cent feeling the UK’s exit from the European Union was having a positive impact on their expectations for business activity in December, to 13% saying it’s having a negative impact this month, just goes to show what a changeable business environment local firms are operating in.”
Across the regions, businesses in London showed the most confidence, at 36%, ahead of the West Midlands (31%) and the South East (23%).
Those in Scotland and the North East were the least confident, with an overall confidence of just one per cent, 18 points below the national average.
The construction and manufacturing sectors had both the highest confidence (30% and 28%, respectively) and the strongest hiring intentions (26% and 30%, respectively).
Meanwhile, the retail (14%) and services sectors (19%) had both the lowest confidence as well as the weakest hiring intentions (nine per cent and eight per cent, respectively).
