Business confidence in the East of England fell 14 points during December to -2%, according to the latest Business Barometer from Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking.
Companies in the East of England report lower confidence in their business prospects at 9%. When taken alongside their views of the economy overall, this gives an overall confidence of -2%, the lowest in the UK and 12 points below the national average.
Despite this, however, a net balance of 9% of businesses in the region expect to hire more staff during the next year, up four points on last month.
Across the UK, overall confidence edged up one point to 10% as firms’ confidence in their own prospects rose six points to 18%, although their optimism in the economy fell to 2%.
The Business Barometer questions 1,200 businesses monthly and provides early signals about UK economic trends both regionally and nationwide. This month’s survey was carried out before the result of last week’s General Election was known.
David Atkinson, regional director for the East of England at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “While the extent of the dip in firms’ confidence in December is clear, we expect this to improve and for the current economic uncertainty to ease in the New Year.
“We’ve been by the side of businesses in the East of England throughout these unsettled times and will continue to do so in 2020 as part of our unwavering commitment to help Britain prosper.”
Across the region, a net balance of 13% of businesses said they felt that the UK’s exit from the European Union was having a negative impact on their expectations for business activity, the same as last month.
National overview
Businesses in the West Midlands had the highest confidence for the third month running, at 23%, ahead of the East Midlands at 18%, and London at 16%.
In December, overall business confidence saw a marked improvement in the manufacturing sector, increasing 17 points to 27%. Confidence in the retail sector increased by one point to 22%, while confidence in the service sector stayed broadly steady at 4%. The construction sector saw a slight decrease of four points to 16%.
