Business optimism declines
Feb 10 2011
Optimism fell to a balance of +8 per cent this year
Optimism among UK business leaders on their economic outlook for 2011 has fallen over the past year, research finds.
According to the latest International Business Report (IBR) survey of 500 SMEs from finance and business advisors Grant Thornton, optimism fell to a balance of +8 per cent this year, a decrease of eight percentage points from the 16 per cent recorded a year ago.
This makes entrepreneurs in the UK among the least optimistic in the European Union. Only EU economies experiencing sovereign debt troubles have a bleaker outlook, such as Spain, with a balance of -50 per cent, Ireland (-45 per cent), and Greece (-44 per cent).
David Maxwell, partner in Grant Thornton says: ‘The decrease in the optimism of private companies in the UK strongly indicates that businesses are experiencing significant uncertainty over the economic climate.
‘With an unstable financial market, a rise in unemployment and access to finance remaining tight, privately held businesses have decreased their expectations to increase staff numbers in their firms. In addition, less businesses in 2011 predict a rise in the price of their goods and services compared to the previous year.’
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