Small Business Confidence Grows in the Southwest

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Small business confidence levels in the South West are slowly but surely rising, according to the latest regional report from Britain’s most prominent business group.

The FSB (Federation of Small Businesses) quarterly confidence report for the first three months of 2023 has seen a positive increase in confidence among regional SMEs after near-record levels of pessimism were reported for the last quarter of 2022.

Although confidence levels among Southwestern companies that participated in the survey are still in negative territory, there has been a notable upward shift with the confidence deficit more than halved.

Twice as many respondents said they are likely to hire rather than downsize in the coming months and nearly 4 in 10 companies said they aim to grow their business quickly or moderately in the current quarter.

Despite these positive regional signs, the Southwest still has the lowest confidence levels in the country and investment ambitions are low. The most hopeful signs should generally be received with caution.

Craig Carey-Clinch, the FSB’s chair of regional policy, said: “We’re still a long way from where we want to be and our amazing companies in the Southwest still have a host of issues to address, but let’s hope this upward shift in regional attitudes is at least the foundation for a more optimistic outlook for the year ahead.” ahead,” he said.

The regional report is in line with the FSB’s national confidence survey, which shows that business positivity levels among SMEs are picking up strongly in the rest of the country after record lows recorded earlier in the year.

Martin McTague, national chairman of the FSB, welcomed the upward trend, but cautioned that the outlook for SMEs was still very uncertain, saying: “This report shows that small businesses may be about to turn around and bounce back after the pandemic and energy crisis , with the recovery of confidence together with greater optimism for the next quarter.

“However, there are still many dark clouds on the horizon that could slow down the recovery of small businesses. The prospect of further interest rate hikes is causing great concern, while costs remain at very high levels” .

He FSB Southwest Report can be downloaded and read in its entirety.