Quarterly Business Climate Survey Summary

The May 2012 survey was emailed to the over 500 contacts. The response rate for the survey was five percent.

Summary of results There was a broad cross-section of industry sectors who responded to the survey including engineering, retail and marine services.

In the past six months, half of the respondents have experienced an increase in orders, compared to 23 percent that had seen a reduction in the number of orders received. Forty-six percent of respondents saw an increase in their costs, compared to nine percent who saw a reduction. Nine percent of respondents experienced an increase in that staff numbers compared to 18 percent who saw a reduction in staff levels.

Over the next year, 43 percent of respondents are planning investments with just under a thirty percent are expecting to increase staff levels. However, 43 percent are delaying their investment plans, which is due to insufficient demand (63 percent) and a lack of available finance (31 percent).

Forty seven percent of respondents would like general business advice events, whilst 21 percent of respondents said that they would like general business training, skills development and customer retention advice.

Attached is a full graphical summary of responses