Coventry & Warks confidence fragile but companies still expect growth

THE majority of companies in Coventry and Warwickshire expect their turnover to grow in the next 12 months, but confidence is still fragile, according to the area’s chamber of commerce.

The chamber’s latest Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) shows 63% of manufacturers think turnover will rise in the next year and 52% of businesses from the service sector say it will go up.

In both sectors, 27% of companies said their cashflow had decreased, while investment in machinery, equipment and training appeared to be stagnating.

In job creation terms, 27% of manufacturers said they had taken on new staff in the past three months, while 59% said their labour force had remained the same.

Of those responding to the survey, 35% of manufacturers said they would be hiring new staff in the next three months.

In the service sector, a quarter of firms said their workforce had increased in the past quarter and 67% said it had remained constant. Looking ahead, 19% said they would be taking on new staff while 72% said they would keep their staffing numbers at the same level.

Manufacturers, particularly, said they experienced difficulties when it came to recruiting new staff.

Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “The survey backs up exactly what we hear anecdotally. There is no doubt there are companies on our patch which are thriving and that is good news.

“The figures also highlight there are many businesses out there which are surviving through what are still difficult economic circumstances but don’t see an opportunity to try to invest or expand at the moment.”

The survey also showed there were still problems in recruiting staff and she said the chamber was consistently highlighting this problem to the Government, as well as the need to reduce the red tape burden on companies.

She said continuing low interest rates were also vital in order to support growth.