Business confidence across Coventry and Warwickshire remains strong going into the second half of 2014.
The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has just completed the second Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) of the year and firms in both the manufacturing and service sectors remain buoyant.
The QES acts as a barometer for businesses across the city and county and is also fed into national research by the British Chambers of Commerce.
The latest survey shows that those companies who export are expecting to see their fortunes improve more quickly. In manufacturing, 52 per cent of firms said advance orders in the domestic market were up while 63 per cent of companies said overseas orders were rising.
The service sector paints a similar picture as 45 per cent of companies said advance orders had risen while 74 per cent said they had more work booked in when it comes to exports.
Chamber chief executive Louise Bennett said: “Businesses have enjoyed a much more stable economic climate over the past few months and that is resulting in improving sales and increasing confidence.
“That stability is vital for the economy to continue to grow and flourish.
“The results of our latest QES bear out, yet again, just how important exporting is and I would urge companies who are not yet doing business overseas to speak to our international trade team.
“In fact, businesses who are already exporting should also get in touch because they can support them to find new markets.”
In terms of general business confidence, 79 per cent of manufacturing firms surveyed believe their turnover will rise in the next year while 83 per cent of service sector companies were anticipating a rise in turnover.
Unemployment also looks set to continue on a downward trend with 57 per cent of manufacturers saying they will increase their team in the coming months and 49 per cent of service based businesses looking to employ more staff.
That’s a slight improvement on three months ago and Bennett said it bodes well for the rest of the year.
She said: “We continue to guard against complacency but it is great to see confidence returning to the companies across our patch.
“Unemployment has been falling consistently and I know from experience with our training division, CWT Chamber Training, that there are a healthy number of vacancies for apprenticeships across Coventry and Warwickshire.
“But it’s vital that Government continues to look at ways it can assist and improve conditions for business to help sustain our economic growth.”