West Midlands businesses ready to hire despite dip in confidence
More businesses in the West Midlands expect to hire fresh staff in the course of 2020, a new measure of regional confidence has found.
Lloyds Bank’s Business Barometer for January found that despite overall confidence for firms in the West Midlands falling five points in the past month to 18 per cent, a net balance of 25 per cent of businesses in the region are looking to expand their team in the next year.
The barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, which questioned 1,200 businesses, found 23 per cent in the West Midlands reported lower confidence in their business prospects with 13 per cent having less optimism towards the economy.. Together, this gives the overall confidence percentage of 18 per cent.
The net balance of businesses in the region saying that they expect to hire more staff during the next 12 months was up four percentage points on December,
Across the UK, overall confidence rose 13 points to 23 per cent as firms’ optimism in the economy soared 22 points to 24 per cent, while confidence in their own prospects increased four points to 22 per cent.
Amanda Dorel, regional director for the West Midlands at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: "Although confidence has fallen slightly this month, businesses in the West Midlands are showing ambitions for future growth by planning to create more jobs in the region.
"This is an encouraging sign that firms are preparing to grasp opportunities ahead, from the prospect of better connectivity in the region to the 2022 Commonwealth Games preparation getting into full swing.
"We’re committed to helping ambitious firms to invest in their growth over the next year. We anticipate lending up to £2.5 billion to support Midlands businesses throughout 2020.”
Across the region, a net balance of six per cent of businesses said they felt that the UK’s exit from the European Union was having a positive impact on their expectations for business activity, down five points on a month ago.
