State of the Region: Midlands businesses wary of making ambitious growth projections
A MAJORITY of West Midlands businesses are expecting to see, at best, minimal turnover growth this year.
Some 51.6% of businesses expect turnover to improve minimally in 2014 while 6.4% think it will stay the same or even contract.
However, a decent-sized majority – 41.9% – expect to see substantial turnover growth in 2014.
These are amongst the findings of the annual State of the Region survey, conducted last month by TheBusinessDesk.com. Readers were asked their views on a number of key issues relating to the local economy.
Clearly local businesses are less optimistic mood than previous surveys have suggested or are hedging their bets until the UK economic growth is proven to be sustainable.
This is borne out by responses to a question about the UK economy as a whole. Some 41.18% of those surveyed suggest confidence is returning but see growth as being slow and consistent. A slightly smaller group of respondents (35.2%) believe the recovery has started and will get stronger.
Elsewhere in the survey, regional companies suggest that downward pressure on prices (17.95%) is the main challenge to their business over the next 12 months followed by access to skilled staff (15.4%), demand for their goods/services from the market (11.5%) and increased regulation (also 11.5%).
