National Business Survey Thank you for taking part in this important survey. Unless otherwise specified, responses to the following questions should only refer to the site mentioned in the letter which accompanies this questionnaire. Please answer as many questions as you can. If you are unable to answer, please tick the ‘don’t know’ or ‘not applicable’ box, or leave it blank.
1
Would you say that overall, your business performance in the past 12 months has improved, remained stable or deteriorated? Improved
2
Partially
To a small extent
Not at all
Over the next 12 months do you expect the business climate in which your business operates to generally improve, remain stable, or deteriorate? Improve
4
Deteriorated
If it has deteriorated, to what extent do you attribute this specifically to the current economic conditions affecting the UK? Fully
3
Remained stable
Remain stable
Deteriorate
Excluding seasonal variations, what has been the trend during the past 12 months, and what are the expected trends for the next 12 months, with regard to… Please tick one box only for each
Past 12 months
Higher Same Lower
5
Next 12 months Not Applicable Higher Same Lower
Domestic orders . . . . . . . . . . . .
Export orders . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Numbers employed . . . . . . . . . .
Volume of output . . . . . . . . . . . .
Prices charged to customers . . . . . .
Staff costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Profit margins . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cash in the business (Cash Flow) . . .
Not Applicable
Which of the following costs… (A) have increased for your business over the past 12 months? Please tick all that apply (B) do you expect to increase over the next 12 months? Please tick all that apply (C) presents the main upward cost pressure on your business at present? Please tick ONE box only
(A) Past 12 months
(B) Next 12 months
Energy costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Raw materials and bought-in services (other than energy) . . . . . .
Transport costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Property costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Staff costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Cost of finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Other costs (please write in)
. .
None of these . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
There is no upward cost pressure in my business at present . . . . .
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(C) Main upward cost pressure at present
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6
Have you passed on any increased costs to your customers in the past 12 months? Yes – all increases
No – as no increase in costs
Yes – some increases
Don’t know
No - business costs did increase but did not pass any increase onto customers
7
As a direct result of current economic conditions, which of the following actions… (A) has your business undertaken in the past 12 months? Please tick all that apply (B) does your business expect to undertake in the next 12 months Please tick all that apply
(a) Undertaken
Reduce the number of staff
Reduce the working hours of staff
Offer unpaid leave to staff
Cut salaries of staff
Consolidate / reduce the number of your suppliers
Delay payments to your suppliers
Sell all or part of the business
Close all or part of the business
Pursue new markets/customers
Raise new sources of finance or credit
Renegotiate existing finance or credit
None of these
Don’t know
(b) Expect to undertake
PLEASE ANSWER Q8 ONLY IF YOUR BUSINESS HAS RAISED NEW SOURCES OF FINANCE OR CREDIT OR RENEGOTIATED EXISTING FINANCE OR CREDIT IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS
8
What problems, if any, did your business experience in accessing finance or credit? Please tick all that apply Finding affordable finance or lines of credit Finding organisations who were willing to lend to the business Satisfying the terms and conditions of potential lenders Accessing supplier insurance or export guarantees Did not experience any problems
9
Is your present level of output below capacity (i.e. are you working below a full rate of operation)? Yes
10
No
Did you have any staff vacancies that you found hard to fill, or could not fill, during the past 12 months, and do you expect to have any in the next 12 months? Please tick one box only for each Past 12 months
11a
Next 12 months
Yes
No
Don’t know
Yes
No
Don’t know
D id you provide any formal external or internal training for your staff during the past 12 months? - By external we mean training provided by an external training provider - By internal we mean training provided by someone employed within your business Please tick one box only for each External Yes No
Internal Yes No
PLEASE ANSWER Q11b ONLY IF YOU HAVE PROVIDED EXTERNAL OR INTERNAL TRAINING IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS
11b
If yes, approximately what proportion of staff undertook such training? Please tick one box only for each External
1-10%
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11-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-100%
1-10%
Internal
11-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-100%
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12
For each of the following do you expect to invest more or less in the next twelve months than you invested in the past twelve months? Please tick one box only for each
13
Same
Less
Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Plant and machinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Product and process development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Marketing and sales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Training and retraining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Not Applicable
On balance, has the overall level of investment you have made in your business over the past 12 months and next 12 months been... Please tick one box only for each
Past 12 months
Increasing
14
More
Next 12 months
Remaining stable Decreasing
Don’t Know Increasing
Remaining stable Decreasing
Don’t know
As a direct result of current economic conditions, has your business experienced any of the following in the past 12 months? Please tick all that apply Employees are more willing to accept salary reductions/ pay freezes Delayed payments from your customers Pressure to reduce prices from customers A higher level of price competition in your market More stringent controls and requirements from your business bank An increased level of support and assistance from your business bank None
15
How well placed is your business to weather any downturn in economic conditions over the next 12 months? Please tick ONE box only Very well placed
16
Fairly well placed
0%
11-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-99%
Rest of UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Within the EU (not including the UK) .
Outside the EU . . . . . . . . . . . .
N/A
100%
Please estimate the proportion of purchases (e.g. raw materials and bought in services) in the following areas: Please tick one box only for each area. Please ensure that the proportions total to 100% 0%
1-10%
11-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-99%
Within the North West region . . . . .
Rest of UK . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Within the EU (not including the UK) .
Outside the EU . . . . . . . . . . . .
100%
Does your business co-operate with universities for research and development activities? Yes
19
1-10%
Within the North West region . . . . .
18
Not at all well placed
Please estimate the proportion of sales in the following areas: Please tick one box only for each area. Please ensure that the proportions total to 100%
17
Not very well placed
No
Don’t know
Not applicable
Do you belong to any specialist industrial networks designed to help you to keep up-to-date with emerging technologies? Yes
No
Don’t know
Not applicable
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Have you heard of Business Link? Have you ever used it? Do you plan to use it in next 12 months?
20
Please tick one box only for each
Heard of
Yes
Used
No
Yes
Plan to use in next 12 months
No
Don’t know
Yes
No
Don’t know
Does your company have a formal business growth plan?
21
Yes
No
Don’t know
Have you taken any steps to reduce the CO2 emissions of your business?
22
Yes
No
Don’t know
Not applicable
Has your business introduced a new product or process innovation in the past 12 months? And do you expect to introduce a new product or process innovation in the next 12 months? Please tick all that apply
23
Past 12 months
Yes – new product innovation
Yes – new process innovation
No - neither
Don’t know
Next 12 months
How many employees are there at this workplace? Please include all workers paid directly from this organisation’s payroll(s). Please exclude proprietors, partners and directors, if they do not receive a salary. If this workplace only has proprietors, partners or directors who do not receive a salary, and does not have any salaried employees, put 0. If you are unsure, please estimate and tick the box on the right to indicate this.
24
Please tick the box if this is an estimate
Approximately how long has your business been in operation?
25
Less than 1 year
At least 3 years but less than 5
Don’t know
At least 1 year but less than 2
At least 5 years but less than 10
At least 2 years but less than 3
10 years or more
What is your annual turnover at this site?
26
£0- £49,999
£100,000 - £499,999
£1m - £1.99m
£5m +
£50,000 - £99,999
£500,000 - £999,999
£2m - £4.99m
Don’t know/Not applicable
Please indicate which type of business you are:
27
Subsidiary of UK parent
Independent
Ultimate holding company
Subsidiary of foreign parent
Limited Liability Partnership
Don’t know/not applicable
No
Not applicable
Is this site your headquarters?
28
Yes
We would like to check that we have got your details correct. Please could you check the contact details on the letter, if any of your details need amending, please enter any corrections below, and please add your email address in the appropriate box. Name Address
Job Title
Company Telephone number (please include area code) Email address
We would also like to undertake more in depth analysis of business performance by linking your business to the Office for National
Statistics Inter-Departmental Business Register. We will not give your business contact details to anyone apart from ONS Business Register Unit staff who carry out this analysis. Please tick this box if you are happy for us to use your records in this way.
Please tick this box, and enter your email address above, if you would like to receive the results of this research
Please tick this box if you are willing to be contacted for follow-up research by Ipsos MORI or Northwest Development Agency
Please return your completed questionnaire in the enclosed pre-paid envelope by Friday 26th June. Thank you for your help with this survey.
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0000000000
Barcode placement only. Do not print
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