Confidence remains intact according to Chamber survey

The economic outlook for Coventry and Warwickshire has suffered a slight drop – but businesses in the region are still positive about the future.

That’s according to Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s latest Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) – a survey of firms in both the manufacturing and service sectors across the region.

The survey, which is delivered in partnership with Prime Accountants Group, is analysed by the Economy & Skills Group at Warwickshire County Council. From the responses of businesses across the services and manufacturing sectors, it gives scores out of 100 where anything above 50 indicates growth and anything below 50 is negative.

Confidence in the service sector now has a score of 73.5 – down from 77.1 in the previous survey and fell from 80.5 to 67.0 for manufacturers. Despite the drop, both scores were still well into positive territory.

The survey also asks questions around intentions to recruit, investment plans and sales both domestically and overseas.

In both the services and manufacturing sectors, recruitment intentions are still positive but have fallen compared to the second quarter.

Service sector businesses reported a slight increase in domestic and overseas sales as well as in investment intentions and cashflow. The manufacturing sector saw a drop in all of those measures but are still all above the crucial 50 mark.

Overall, it saw the economic outlook drop from 62.4 to 60.2 for the region which still suggests business growth over the next 12 months.

Corin Crane, the chief executive of the Chamber, said: “Our QES is the strongest barometer of how businesses in the region are performing right now and, also, how they feel about the months ahead.

“We use this information, as well as the day-to-day conversations we have with businesses, to let decisionmakers at a local, regional and national level know what sentiment is like and what issues firms are facing.

“The survey reflects that there has been a little bit of uncertainty around the General Election and then the Budget but there is still a strong degree of confidence as we move toward the end of the year.”

Steve Harcourt, director of Prime Accountants Group, said: “It’s pleasing to see that the business outlook for the region is positive.

“The economy and our businesses have shown incredible resilience over the past few years and would have liked to have grown even more quickly but have faced a series of obstacles.

“The hope, now, is for a degree of certainty and stability to provide a strong platform for sustained growth over the coming years.”

Todd Williams, Business Intelligence Analyst (Economy & Skills) at Warwickshire County Council, said: “The latest QES results show the local economy maintaining strong optimism across the board, with the lone exception of services export.

“This local indication of not benefitting from a national area of strength may become more significant if the new national industrial strategy is focused on services export.

“Local concerns around labour costs remain significant for both the services and manufacturing sectors, along with ongoing recruitment challenges. Nevertheless, local responses for overall business confidence, turnover, cashflow, profitability and investment in training – are all very positive.”