Positive signs for Coventry and Warwickshire economy

THERE are signs of business confidence returning in Coventry and Warwickshire, according to a new survey.

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has just revealed the results of its Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) following the first quarter of 2012.
The results reveal a much more buoyant mood among firms than at the tail-end of 2011.

In manufacturing, 62% of companies are predicting a rise in turnover in the next year compared to just 47% of firms who said turnover would rise three months’ ago.

In the service sector, 58% of companies believe turnover will rise in the coming year. That was only 42% when the last survey was carried out at the end of 2011.

There also appears to be better news on the jobs front, with 40% of manufacturers saying their workforce will increase in the next three months compared with 21% when the last survey was undertaken. Just 4% of manufacturers expect to shed staff.

Twenty-nine per cent of service sector businesses say they will increase their workforce, which is up slightly on the 20% who said the same in December. Only 8% of service-based companies expect staffing levels to fall.

Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is a much more positive survey compared with three months ago.

“I am not sure it is enough to start predicting a sudden, major rise in economic growth across our patch but they certainly bear out the anecdotal evidence we are hearing from business.

“But the fact that confidence is returning is good news for Coventry and Warwickshire and we must make sure that is nurtured to see long-term, sustainable growth.”