UK Goods Trade Struggling For Impact

UK Goods Trade Struggling For Impact

Responding to the latest ONS Trade figures published this morning, William Bain, Head of Trade Policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said:       “The first quarter of 2024 shows the challenges UK goods exporters face, with a further drop in sales to both EU and non-EU markets, despite a…

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Businesses Help Drive The UK Away From Recession

Reacting to the latest GDP figures, David Bharier, Head of Research at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “Today’s Q1 GDP first estimate of 0.6%, outstripping expectations, is a welcome sign that the UK has moved away from last year’s shallow recession. Businesses across the UK have been the driving force…

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Businesses Continue to Hold Their Breath on Interest Rates

Reacting to the Bank of England’s latest interest rate decision, David Bharier, Head of Research at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “Today’s decision to hold the interest rate at 5.25% was widely expected. Businesses will be hopeful that tentative signals from the Bank translate into a rate cut later this year.…

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US Still A Land Of Opportunity For UK Business

Supply chain security, trade deals, tariffs and planning permission were the big issues during the BCC’s 5-day mission to the US to promote business and investment. Director General, Shevaun Haviland’s, trip was organised ahead of the US elections as issues around trade agreements, tariffs, supply-chain disruption, subsidies, protectionism and geo-political…

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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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