Unemployment will continue to fall in Coventry and Warwickshire according to a new survey that shows strong business confidence in the region.
Firms across the city and the county are, however, scaling back plans to invest in equipment and training, which is thought to be because of uncertainty around international markets.
The information comes from the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce’s second Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) for 2015. The survey acts as a barometer for the economy across the region and also feeds into the British Chambers of Commerce’s wider QES for the whole country. The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce is now working with Coventry City Council and Warwickshire County Council to produce the survey.
It shows that 43.5 per cent of companies in the manufacturing sector say advanced domestic orders are up and 39.1 per cent say they have remained constant. In the service sector, 45.7 per cent of businesses say orders are up and 45.2 per cent say they are the same.
Advanced overseas orders are steady rather than spectacular in both manufacturing and the service sector but overall business confidence is strong.
In manufacturing, 63.5 per cent of the businesses surveyed said turnover would rise in the next 12 months and 73.9 per cent of companies in the service sector believe turnover will increase.
That has led to 40 per cent of manufacturers saying they will increase their head-count in the next quarter, while 33.2 per cent of service sector companies will do likewise. Just 2.7 per cent of manufacturers said they would be decreasing staff numbers and only 3.2 per cent of businesses in the service industry said they would be cutting back on numbers.
The main area for concern from the survey is the expectation that firms would be cutting back on investment plans. More than 57 per cent of manufacturers said they would be reducing investment in plant and machinery and 68 per cent of companies in the service sector said they would be cutting back in that area.
Just over half of the companies surveyed from the manufacturing sector said they would be scaling back on training investment and almost 64 per cent of service-based businesses said the same.
Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “Generally, this is another positive QES that shows companies across Coventry and Warwickshire are forecasting growth over the next 12 months.
“It’s also good news on the labour market front that the vast majority will be either increasing or maintaining head-count numbers.
“However, there is some concern of the investment forecasts. We believe that this might be due to the economic uncertainty overseas – particularly in Greece – that might have led some firms to show caution in this area.
“Hopefully, the changes in the summer budget around the Annual Investment Allowance moving to £200,000 will have a positive effect and will help to encourage further investment.”