SME Exporters Trapped In Doldrums

SME Exporters Trapped In Doldrums

BCC’s Trade Confidence Outlook for Q1 2024 shows most SME exporters struggling to boost sales. More than half of all SME exporters (53%) saw no change in overseas sales, and 23% reported a decrease. Just under a quarter of exporting SME firms (24%) saw their overseas sales rise in Q1…

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Quarterly Recruitment Outlook: Hiring Difficulties Easing But Significant Concerns Persist

Businesses report recruitment conditions have eased, with fewer firms facing difficulties in hiring  66% of responding firms say they’ve faced challenges finding staff, the lowest percentage in three years Companies in the production and manufacturing sector are the most likely to report challenges in hiring staff (70%) 62% of companies…

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Inflation Cooling But Business Price Pressures Persist

Reacting to the latest inflation figures published this morning, David Bharier, Head of Research at the British Chambers of Commerce said:    “Today’s figures confirm inflation is continuing to slowly head in the right direction. That’s good news for both consumers and businesses.     “However, a lot of uncertainty remains…

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UK Trade Ticks Up As Global Demand Recovers

Responding to the latest ONS Trade figures published this morning, William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said:  “It is difficult to draw concrete conclusions from a single month’s data, but there are signs of a nascent improvement in import and export volumes as global…

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UK Economy Stuck On a Low-Growth Treadmill

Responding to the latest GDP figures published this morning, David Bharier Head of Research at the British Chambers of Commerce said:     “Today’s data confirms once again that the UK economy is stuck on a low-growth treadmill. With GDP growth of 0.2% in the three months to February, and 0.1%…

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BCC Quarterly Economic Survey: Firms Treading Water on Investment

No overall improvement in business conditions in Q1 2024 as measured by investment, sales and cashflow. Levels of business confidence remain unchanged, with 56% of UK businesses expecting an increase in turnover in the next twelve months. Almost half of firms are expecting the price of their goods or services…

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Access To Finance Challenge for SMEs

Accessing finance is becoming more difficult for a large number of SMEs, according to new data from the British Chambers of Commerce Insights Unit.  Around half (49%) of business surveyed who accessed finance felt that getting funding had become more challenging over the past three years.  Only 13% said it…

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Government Fails To Listen On Costly Import Charges

Reacting to details of the common user charge being introduced on animal and plant product imports into the UK later this month, William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce said:    “This is an extremely disappointing decision by Defra on the common usage charge. The…

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Interest Rate Waiting Game Continues

“Today’s decision to hold interest rates at 5.25% was widely expected. However, it prolongs the period of uncertainty for firms grappling with high borrowing costs.     “Our recent survey of more than 1,000 UK businesses found a third of report a direct negative impact of the current rate, while around…

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Easing of Inflation Gives Some Relief

Responding to the latest inflation figures from the ONS, David Bharier, Head of Research at the British Chambers of Commerce, said:      “Today’s easing of the CPI rate to 3.4% will give businesses and consumers some sense of relief. At 4.5%, core inflation has also slowed, and the producer price…

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