Businesses in Swansea Bay are feeling positive about 2014, despite increasing pressure on costs from their customers.
Eight out of 10 businesses that took part in Swansea Bay Business Club’s first quarterly Business Barometer said that in the last three months they had performed better or as well as in the previous quarter.
The same number expected their performance over the next three months to be better or as good as their current performance.
But 23 per cent of respondents said price pressures from their customers was the biggest barrier to growing their business.
And almost one in ten complained they were still having problems obtaining finance or extended credit facilities from lenders.
Bruce Roberts, President of Swansea Bay Business Club, said the Business Barometer findings were encouraging, with “a renewed sense of positivity and optimism.”
More than 600 businesses received the Business Barometer. Forty per cent of respondents said their overall performance had been somewhat stronger than in the previous quarter, with more than 48 per cent stating that performance had been on a par with the last quarter.
More than 56 per cent of respondents anticipate the next three months will see their performance remain the same. Over 25 per cent anticipate their performance will be somewhat stronger.
Other barriers to businesses growth identified by the survey were the effects of the global and national economic performance (14 per cent of businesses) and rising overheads and utility costs were hampering their growth (11 per cent).
“The economic downturn has hit South Wales hard and understandably businesses have been cautious to forecast their transition into a more positive situation too soon,” Mr Roberts said.
“The outcomes of this survey show a renewed sense of positivity and optimism for early 2014. While it is extremely encouraging to see businesses forecasting increased results for the months ahead we are equally as satisfied to see businesses predicting a steadiness in their performance.
“Swansea Bay Business Club is largely encouraged by these findings and we look forward to the next Business Barometer where we hope to see evidence that the businesses in the area are continuing on the road to recovery.
“The Business Club is dedicated to supporting the Bay region’s businesses in any way that we can, and we hope to use these findings to focus our on going discussions with the key decision makers and influencers that can assist businesses in the area.”
The survey will be repeated every three months to monitor local business performance and attitude to the local economy.