Chamber economic survey shows innovations as well as challenges
Date published:
North East England Chamber of Commerce’s economic survey results released today (Wednesday, 13 July 2022) show a challenging picture of regional economic conditions – but also find firms managing to adapt.
Sales, exports, investment and cashflow are nearly all now in negative territory as a number of economic headwinds impact North East firms. Over 90% of businesses that inflation and energy prices are of significant concern, with staff costs and staff shortages not far behind.
Confidence around cash flow is also down – to -14 points overall for all companies responding, worse than the same time last year when it stood at -9.9 points.
However the survey also shows businesses are taking positive action to deal with the impact of energy price rises.
Andrew Haigh, Chamber President (Newcastle Building Society) said: “This quarter we asked specific questions about energy costs and shone a spotlight on some of the positive steps firms are taking to reduce costs and consumption. The results showed businesses are using this as an opportunity to go green by using local energy generation methods such as solar panels. That resilience and creativity will be powerful as businesses deal with the challenging economic conditions ahead.”
A high proportion of respondents (72%) said they were reducing energy usage by turning off equipment and 38% of firms were investing in new, more energy-efficient equipment.
Andrew Haigh said: “One of the strengths of our survey is that it can highlight the important differences in experiences and perceptions of services and manufacturing firms. This quarter we can see that a little more sharply with manufacturing businesses feeling more neutral on the question of future profitability, compared to the service sectors’ relative optimism.”
Durham University Business School is the associate sponsor of the survey.
Download a copy of the report here