COMPANIES in Coventry and Warwickshire companies are heading into 2016 more confident than they have been at the turn of any year in over a decade.
The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce conducted its final Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) of 2015 and companies have delivered a positive outlook for the region.
The QES is used as a barometer for the regional economy and also feeds into the British Chambers of Commerce’s national statistics.
In the latest survey, just over three quarters of service sector companies said they expected turnover to rise in the next 12 months, while almost as many manufacturers were also predicting a jump in turnover over the course of the next year.
That is more in both services and manufacturing than in any fourth quarter survey since 2004.
Louise Bennett, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “This is a very confident outlook for 2016.
“When you look back over the statistics, you can really chart how companies felt as we went into the recession and started to come out again – perhaps this latest QES indicates that we are finally getting over the effects of that.
“Of course, there is no room for complacency. There are frailties in the world economy which no country is protected from and, closer to home, there are issues around skills and infrastructure. We also need to get more companies exporting in order to drive a real re-balance in the economy.
“But, overall, it is good to hear that companies from across our patch are buoyant as we all look forward to a very prosperous year.”
When it comes to advance orders, nearly half of service based businesses said they were up domestically – with less than ten per cent saying they had fallen. Nearly half of all manufacturing firms also said they had risen, while 20 per cent had seen a dip.
On the international front, 27 per cent of service sector companies said advanced orders were up and some 12 per cent were reporting a fall. In manufacturing, half the businesses surveyed said advanced international orders were up and around 15 per cent said they had dropped.
In terms of the jobs market, around a third of service sector companies expect to increase their headcount in the next quarter with only four per cent reporting a possible fall in employees. Just seven per cent of manufacturers believe they will need to shed staff in the next three months while approaching half said they would be increasing staff levels.
