Commercial activity through the British private sector has decreased in the past three months, has revealed an investigation, as Low consumption expenses hit businesses.
The latest growth indicator produced by the Confederation of British industry (CBI) shows that the activity of the British private sector has again dropped from three months to February, at a faster rate than in the quarter until January.
All sectors have declared a drop in commercial volumes, says the CBI, reducing its growth index to -27% in February, against -23% a month earlier.
In a worrying sign, private sector companies also expect another drop in activity over the next three months, While the economy fights.
“There are glimmer of hope in our latest surveys,” said Alpesh Paleja, deputy chief economist of the CBI.
“Growth expectations have become slightly less negative, drawn by a return scheduled for growth in the manufacturing sector. But overall, the data always depicts an image of a difficult operating environment for businesses, the consumer -oriented sectors are particularly bad. »»
The CBI hopes that the government will inaugurate measures such as modifications to the apprenticeship tax, increased incentives for occupational health or a recasting of business rates, to help increase business confidence.
A separate survey of the BDO accounting network revealed that medium-sized companies were the most concerned with obstacles to international expansion and the increase in labor costs.
BDO questioned 500 business leaders in medium -sized companies with turnover between 10 and 300 million pounds sterling, and found that almost half wanted better government support to start or continue to export abroad. This includes expanding access to financial support from British exports to the average market, new free trade agreements and simpler customs rules to help export products or services abroad.
In January, the new EU trade chief said The block could consider including the United Kingdom in a pan-European trade agreementBy letting him join the Pan-Euro-Metiterranée convention. This would create a “dynamic alignment” between the United Kingdom and the EU, potentially helping the food and agricultural industry of the United Kingdom.
A quarter of business leaders interviewed by BDO cited the increase in labor costs, such as national insurance contributions (NIC) and decent salary, as significant concern.
The government has stood up to give up to abandon The increase in employer’s nicks that begins in April.