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North-South retail divide increases

Traders in the North have suffered worse conditions than in any other part of the country, according to the Creditman.

The Bibby Financial Services Business Factors Index showed that almost half of all businesses in the North believed conditions were ‘very’ or ‘incredibly’ tough, in comparison with 14 percent in the South West and 18 percent in the South East.

Pessimism is also more widespread in the North than the South, with 43 and 30 percent respectively believing that the economy will take at least three years to return to pre recession levels.

These figures have been attributed to widespread cuts in the public sector, which has traditionally provided a high concentration of jobs in the North.

In many areas unemployment will exceed 10 percent due to these redundancies.

It is also believed that this will have a detrimental effect on the local economy by reducing confidence and consumer spends.

Edward Rimmer, UK chief executive at Bibby Financial Services commented: “ The country can effectively split into two equal parts, with one half enjoying positive trading conditions with, business doing better than a year ago and confidence on the up. The other half of the country paints a bleaker picture, with firms finding things incredibly tough and experiencing such difficult trading conditions.?

“With no end in sight to the planned cuts in government expenditure, increased tax, fuel and the potential for a rise in inflation placing additional pressure on UK firms– not to mention the adverse impact on cash flow – many businesses are still in for a bumpy ride.”

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