The final results from the latest (Autumn) National Business Survey, undertaken on behalf of the RDAs by IPSOS MORI is now available. The results were obtained after surveying over 450 South West businesses between October and December 09

The survey shows there has been a slight improvement in business conditions and optimism when compared to previous surveys.  28% of businesses now expect conditions to improve over the next 12 months (only 25% expected the same in the Spring).

Here are few points that the survey shows:

• Labour conditions will remain weak in the coming period.  There is no strong indication that businesses are going to hire with any real enthusiasm.  Coupled with their intention to continue to suppress pay levels, this has implications for consumer expenditure.
• Of greatest concern is that investment intentions of businesses remain extremely subdued.  Of particular concern is the low number of businesses looking to increase investment in capital.
• This is partly related to businesses indicating that a persistent output gap still exists.  Until we see a ‘tightening’ of this output gap then we would not expect a significant upturn in general economic conditions.
• Nevertheless, the majority of businesses (70% of respondents) feel that they remain fairly or very well placed to withstand continuing weak economic conditions.  Obviously, this can be looked at conversely – that nearly a third of businesses feel that they are not well placed to weather continuing weak conditions.  If even a small percentage of these businesses translate into future business failures then this could be a worrying indication of more pain to come. 
• Businesses are indicating that cost pressures are beginning to increase, led by the cost of raw materials.  This will have undoubtedly been affected by the relative weakness of sterling in recent months. 
• Despite a lot of media commentary, the public sector organisations that were part of the survey still show a sense of resilience.  A higher proportion feels that employment levels and costs will continue to increase; this despite the severe tightening of fiscal conditions widely expected. 

For the whole brief and presentation please follow the link bellow.