The British Chambers of Commerce, together with the accredited Chamber Network, including Norfolk Chamber, run Britain’s largest and most influential private business survey – the Quarterly Economic Survey (QES). The next fieldwork period for the QES will start on Tuesday 28 August 2018 and will be open for 3 weeks.
But why should your organisation take part? Nova Fairbank, Norfolk Chamber’s Public Affairs Manager outlines why she wants more input from Norfolk businesses:
“The QES is Britain’s largest, and longest-running, private business survey and it’s a leading economic indicator – often picking up big changes in the economy long before other surveys or official statistics. With the uncertainty of Brexit and the UK economy effectively treading water at present, it is more important than ever that as many businesses as possible take part.
“By completing the QES you are helping to identify how strong our local economy is and how well it is performing against the national averages. Norfolk has many dynamic and innovative businesses, we need to have a strong voice and ensure our region gets the credit and investment that it deserves.”
Below are just a few more reasons why your organisation should take part in this important economic survey:
- It’s provided consistent data since 1989, and regularly receives over 7,500 business responses. Compare that to the average business survey, which garners only a few hundred responses.
- Norfolk responses represent over 34% of the responses from the East of England. (East of England includes: Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire).
- The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee uses the QES as one of its key benchmarks when setting interest rates.
- HM Treasury and the independent Office for Budget Responsibility use the QES to put together their forecasts for the UK’s economic performance.
- The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) use the QES when comparing the UK to competitors worldwide.
The more Norfolk businesses that take part – the louder the voice of the Norfolk business community will be.
Details of the previous QES results from Q2 2018 can be found under Policy on the Chamber News section of the Chamber website.
So what can your business do to contribute to the QES? During the fieldwork period, the survey can be completed electronically. There are several ways to access this online survey either:
- Use the link within the Chamber Policy news article or;
- Use the link that the Chamber can send direct to you
To be added to the Chamber’s QES email list, please contact Nova Fairbank or Jack Edwards. Emails: [email protected] and [email protected].
The online survey takes less than 3 minutes and your input is vital to help ensure that Norfolk business has a strong collective ‘voice’.
