Business confidence is soaring in Coventry and Warwickshire ahead of the region’s biggest economic conference.
The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce is holding its annual conference at the Belgrade Theatre on Friday, October 17, with speakers from Yorkshire Bank, Turkish Airlines, the Local Enterprise Partnership and Timpsons as well as MP Marcus Jones.
And the Chamber has just completed its latest Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) for the third quarter of 2014 and the results show clear confidence among manufacturers and service sector companies.
Of the firms surveyed, 83 per cent of service-based businesses said they expected turnover to rise over the next 12 months while 94 per cent of manufacturers believe turnover will increase in the next year.
When it comes to profitability, 76 per cent of both service sector companies and manufacturers are anticipating an increase.
Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “These are very positive figures from businesses ahead of our economic conference in October.
“The conference is being themed around prosperity through growth and will explore how this region can maintain the momentum that is developing among our businesses.
“One thing we are always keen to guard against is complacency because it’s vital that we do not stand still and, again, the conference will be an opportunity to gauge views on what further measures are needed at a local, regional and national level to see growth in our economy sustained.
“The QES is certainly a very positive starting point as we head into the conference and it will be interesting to hear our expert views on how we maintain this.”
When it comes to employment, 44 per cent of manufacturers said they were expecting to grow their workforce over the next three months while 38 per cent of service providers want to take on new staff.
Manufacturers’ exporting prospects remain stronger than those in the service sector with 57 per cent of manufacturers saying advanced overseas orders are up while only 15 per cent of the service industry could say the same.
Louise added: “Exporting is absolutely key to future growth and our international trade hub at the Chamber is helping firms across Coventry and Warwickshire find new overseas market on a daily basis whether it’s through export documentation or market visits.
“This applies to service sector and manufacturing firms and we are keen to work with more and more companies to get them trading overseas.”