Businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire are still cautiously optimistic going into the second quarter of the year – despite a range of pressures.
The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has just completed its first Quarterly Economic Survey of 2016 – three months after launching its Go For Growth campaign at the end of 2015.
The Chamber focused its first two months of the campaign on export trade and both service and manufacturing sectors in the region are reporting increases in overseas trade in the first quarter of 2016.
More than 70 per cent of manufacturers said exports were up compared with 53 per cent in the final quarter of last year. In the service sector, 30 per cent of firms trading overseas saw a rise in sales compared with 23 per cent in the final quarter of 2015.
A quarter of companies in the service sector say overseas orders for the next three months are up – compared to 27 per cent in the last quarter – and in manufacturing, 53 per cent are reporting an increase in overseas orders for the next three months compared to 50 per cent three months ago.
Domestically, the picture is slightly more mixed – with 55 per cent of manufacturers seeing an increase in orders for the next three months compared to 41 per cent in the last quarter while 54 per cent of service sector businesses have seen an increase compared to 57 per cent at the final quarter of 2015.
Despite those figures, it’s the service sector that remains most likely to recruit – with 46 per cent of businesses saying they will increase their workforce compared to 33 per cent three months ago.
In manufacturing, just over a third of companies will be looking to increase their headcount – down on the 42 per cent from the final quarter of 2015.
Overall, 73 per cent of companies across Coventry and Warwickshire are expecting turnover to go up over the next 12 months – that’s down slightly on the 76 per cent from three months ago.
Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “Looking at the survey, there is still a general sense of optimism but the statistics are quite mixed and it’s certainly right that we should keep a cautious eye on what is happening domestically and internationally.
“It was very pleasing to see so many companies who export from this region reporting an increase in sales in the first quarter of the year and we will continue to push the message of how important trading overseas is for business.
“Everything from the debate around the EU through to issues with recruiting staff are putting pressure on business and, as we identified when we launched Go For Growth, could all impact on companies’ plans for expansion.
“Since the launch of the campaign, we have seen companies coming forward and feeding in issues that could stifle their growth and certainly digital infrastructure and having the right property to grow into have been highlighted.”
