Entrepreneurs in the South remain confident about business prospects and the economy over the next 12 months, according to a new bellwether report.
The positive picture is reflected by the latest quarterly Enterprise Index by accountancy and investment management group Smith & Williamson, which has its South Coast office in Southampton.
Of the 324 respondents, 92% indicated they are “steadily optimistic” about the future.
Now in its second year, the Index measures entrepreneurial confidence in the economy and is at 107.7, one point lower on the previous record-level quarter.
Richard Green, managing partner of the 50-strong South Coast office, said: “It is encouraging to see a steady level of optimism continuing among the UK’s entrepreneurs, including here on the central South Coast.
“This shows a reassuringly steady level of confidence despite the Bank of England signalling that interest rates could start to rise later this year.”
He added: “The feedback is in line with data released by the Office of National Statistics in June, which reported that the UK economy remained 0.6% smaller than before the start of the financial crisis in the first quarter of 2014, but looks set to overtake its pre-crisis level this quarter.”
Almost 70% of participants indicated that they are either planning or are in the process of hiring apprentices to work within their businesses.
But over half reiterated their concerns about the UK’s education system and its ability to prepare students for the workforce.
Richard said: “‘It seems that additional effort should be made to put school leavers’ future business prospects on the education agenda and to increase awareness of entrepreneurship in schools.”
With a benchmark of 100, the Index dropped as low as 90.1 in the second quarter of last year before rallying as the economic recovery gathered pace.
A significant number of participants also agreed that the export credit facility for small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) looks promising.
However, when asked whether they expected their export turnover to increase in 2014, only 22% of respondents indicated that they currently export at all.
Richard added: “David Cameron and Vince Cable have labelled SMEs the lifeblood of our economy on numerous occasions and, while it is true that many small and medium sized businesses are selling their services and products abroad, the statistics from this quarter’s Index reveal that a great deal are not yet realising their global potential.
“In addition, the CBI has recently released research stating that the public procurement of goods and services in 12 key emerging markets will almost triple to £452 billion by 2030, but has also warned that the UK will only capture £11 billion of this growth if its current market share stays the same.”
