Member Article

Northern England is second most confident region

Businesses in the north of England are among the most confident in the country, according to the latest figures from the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

According to the latest ICAEW UK Business Confidence Monitor (BCM), Northern England is now the second most confident region in the country, falling a little behind the East of England but 4.0 points above the UK average.

The senior business professionals in Northern England interviewed recorded a Confidence Index score of 28.6 in the Q4 2009 BCM, a rise of 17.1 points from last quarter.

For the coming twelve months, businesses in Northern England are forecasting their highest growth for profits (4.0%) since Q3 2008 and are also predicting their strongest rise in sales volumes (4.2%) since the recession began.

Keith Proudfoot, ICAEW Northern Regional Director, said: “There are a number of factors influencing the continuing sense of better things ahead in our region.

“For example, Northern Rock has secured its return as a major high street lender after the EU approved a plan to separate out the bank’s profitable and loss-making assets. Newcastle-based Northern Rock now hopes to be able to double its lending next year.

“Employment prospects have been boosted by Tesco’s announcement that it intends to create 1,000 jobs at a new banking call centre at Longbenton on North Tyneside, while Sunderland is emerging as the favourite location in the race to locate the new Nissan Leaf electric car battery plant. This decision should secure the local supply chain for the next decade.”

For further information go to www.icaew.com/bcm

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .