Output and confidence rising says BDO’s Business Trends
BUSINESS output and confidence is on the increase, according to accoutants and business advisers BDO.
The firm’s Business Trends report records a fresh increase in business prospects – which are at a 26-month high – while confidence is at its highest level since April 2012.
BDO’s Output Index, which predicts short-run turnover expectations and reflects the firms’ current experience, rose to a 26-month high of 96.8 in July up from 94.9 in June – a fifth consecutive monthly increase and above the crucial 95.0 mark that indicates growth.
Output in the services sector, which makes up roughly three quarters of the economy, rose from 94.7 in June to 96.5 in July, while the manufacturing sector rose from 95.7 in June to 98.3 in July – both indicating positive growth.
Improved confidence is feeding into companies’ employment intentions too, with BDO’s Employment Index showing further traction, while fewer firms are fearing inflation increases.
BDO’s North West head Tim Entwistle said: ““It’s encouraging to see short-term business prospects improving and confidence in our economy continuing to strengthen. Indeed, all of our indices moved in the right direction this month, suggesting that the new Bank of England governor Mark Carney has joined at an opportune time.
“However one need only look at the last five years of zig-zagging economic growth and business confidence to know that sustained expansion will not be achieved easily.”
He said the move to peg interest rates to unemployment levels was a positive step.
