Business Growth: Confidence key for success
CONFIDENCE is key in the move towards stimulating business growth, according to experts.
Those that have it are more likely to take investment opportunities that will pay dividends in the future.
That’s a key message from business leaders who have commented in TheBusinessDesk.com’s latest supplement on business growth, run in association with Barclays in Yorkshire.
James Newman, chairman at Finance Yorkshire and the Sheffield Local Enterprise Partnership, said business confidence across Yorkshire remained subdued.
Mr Newman said: “It is always a question of confidence. The economy is not going to move unless the private sector starts to invest but we won’t get that investment if there is still uncertainty.”
Reasons for this lack of confidence can be attributed to reasons including a reduction in consumer spending and negative reports from the media, experts said.
According to Lee Collinson, head of Barclays Corporate in Yorkshire, the issue he faces is not a lack of available finance, but a reluctance from businesses to take it up.
“There is nervousness about how the wider economy will pan out, that’s particularly true in Yorkshire where we will be more affected by public sector cuts. Clients are lacking confidence and are deferring decisions,” he said.
Yet while consumers and businesses alike are uncertain about what they see going on around them, and what the future holds in terms of wider macro economics, many Yorkshire businesses are finding that despite this, they are themselves performing very well.
Paul Cubbage, managing director of Castleford-based IT distributor Target Components, is a case in point.
He said: “In our own business we are very positive about where we are going and what we are doing now. But also we are looking at else what else we can do.
The supplement also explores in detail issues areas including access to finance, exporting, how to achieve organic growth and different sources of funding.
Click here to download the supplement.
