State of the Region – make your voice heard

YORKSHIRE business leaders and company owners are being called on to have their say on the major challenges and opportunities facing their organisations as TheBusinessDesk.com’s major annual State of the Region survey is launched.

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TheBusinessDesk.com is once again delighted to be running this milestone project in association with our lead sponsor, law firm DLA Piper.

The initiative is also supported by Yorkshire Bank and the CBI.
 
We want to paint a true picture of the economic landscape and what it’s like for you to run a business in this region.

Is international trade now the key growth plan for your organisation? What are your predictions for the economy’s future?

It’s businesses views that count and we want to hear from you.
 
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We want to know what the last 12 months have been like, not only for those running businesses and organisations, but also for those advising, funding and trading with them.

The survey assesses crucial issues such as where business growth is expected to come from, which export markets offer the greatest opportunities and what factors will shape an increase in confidence.
 
Readers are also being invited to tell us their predictions for business and the economy in 2013.  

Your answers matter and knowing how time is precious for those running businesses, we have made the survey quick and simple – it will take you no more than three minutes to complete.
 
We will be running a series of stories on the survey results from each of our Yorkshire, North West and West Midlands regions in the early New Year, comparing the findings from the three, and publishing an in-depth report analysing business sentiment.

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Sarah Day, managing partner of DLA Piper in Leeds, said: “Last year’s survey results indicated a marked decrease in confidence levels across the region. Almost half of the respondents were less confident about the economy’s prospects for 2012 compared to less than a fifth the year before, and the same number expected conditions to worsen during the course of the year.
 
“This turned out to be a fairly accurate and justified prediction. Perhaps unsurprisingly, improvements in the economic climate over the last 12 months have been slight, overshadowed by the on-going instability in the Eurozone and a double dip recession as we moved into the second quarter of the year.

“The news last week that, helped along by the Jubilee and Olympic celebrations, the economy had grown by 1% between July and September was welcome relief. However in November, growth forecasts by the Bank of England were cut to reflect the expectation of a ‘slow and protracted’ recovery.
 
“Businesses across the region continue to show enormous resilience, adapting and evolving in order to operate successfully under the ‘new normal’. It is likely that 2013 will have challenges of its own but will Yorkshire businesses rise to this challenge? What are the opportunities, which markets are we turning to for growth, where do the commercial threats lie and is the region still a good place to invest and do business? 

“It will be interesting to benchmark commercial sentiment amongst the region’s business leaders again this year and we’re looking forward to sharing the results.”

Yorkshire Bank’s national director Paul Shepherd: “We are very pleased to support TheBusinessdesk.com’s survey. 

“Understanding our local business communities; their worries and the issues they are facing, can only be a benefit to us all.”

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