ICAEW / Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor (BCM)

• Press release - Businesses remain cautious on capital investment as UK falls back into recession 
• Q1 2012 ICAEW / Grant Thornton Business Confidence Monitor results (PPT)
• Full report (PDF)

Key findings from Q1 2012 report include:

• Business investment is important for future growth however firms are reining in plans for capital investment
• Job creation plans remain subdued, though SMEs are more likely than larger companies to take on people in the next 12 months
• Nearly a fifth of businesses (19%) have above normal stock levels probably due to a lack of customer demand and over half of businesses are operating below capacity
• The BCM Confidence Index has steadied from -9.7 in Q4 2011 to -9.3. This compares to +8.1 in Q3 2011 and shows the massive fall in confidence that businesses experienced over the last six months
• Salary expectations for 2012 are depressed with businesses predicting modest increases of up to 2% - more unwelcome news for the squeezed consumer

Links 

• Introduction (PDF)
• Economist’s View (PDF)
• Business Confidence Q1 2012 (PDF)
• Business Financial Performance (PDF)
• Factors affecting business performance (PDF)
• Trends in business confidence industry (PDF)
• Trends in business confidence region (PDF)
• Trends in business confidence type (PDF)

Further information

For further information on special reports please contact Svetlana Dimitrijevic, Strategic Research

For further information on BCM please contact Ruth Betts, Strategic Research.