Bosses’ confidence slumps says survey

CONFIDENCE among business leaders in the North West has nosedived, despite expectations of sales and profits growth for the next 12 months.

A poll of 100 senior business people carried out by the Institute of Chartered Accountants for its UK Business Confidence Monitor reveals that confidence index has plunged from 24.3 to to 14.4 between the first and second quarters of this year, the steepest fall for any region in the UK.

Those surveyed are at their gloomiest since last autumn, and confidence in the North West is lower than in any other UK region.

It was not all bad news though, as the bosses are predicting turnover to rise by more than 5% over the next 12 months and profits to climb 4.4%.

Melanie Christie, regional director at the ICAEW, said: “The North West results of the latest BCM show that businesses are not allowing themselves to become complacent and remain cautious about the outlook.

“The economy still faces significant challenges, many of which are outside of businesses control. Until prospects for the future become clearer, UK plc is continuing to manage risk, cut costs and not expose itself to potential risks outside its control, leading to a slower than expected recovery. “

Despite forecasting sales and profit rises, bosses have the lowest headcount growth  expectations of part of the UK.

The number of employees in the North West is expected to grow by only 0.5% over the next 12 months, compared to 1.1% growth for the UK overall.

A similarly cautious outlook for staff development budgets is also expected, with projections of 0.7% growth in the North West – again the lowest of any part of the UK.

The crisis in the Eurozone has prompted exporters to trim their growth predictions for the next year from 3% to 2.3%.