Today (Monday 23 May 2016) is the first day of the fieldwork period for the British Chambers of Commerce Quarterly Economic Survey (QES). It is the largest independent business survey in the UK and is used by the Bank of England and the Chancellor to plan the future of the UK economy. It is also closely watched by the International Monetary Fund.
Why should you complete the QES? – here’s why!
Norfolk Chamber needs your input to ensure that the Norfolk business community has a clear voice on our local and regional economy. You can have your say by completing the QES online NOW, it takes less than 3 minutes.
The completion deadline for this survey is midnight on Monday 13 June 2016.
Key findings in the Q1 2016 survey:
- Overall, the figures for both the services and manufacturing sectors indicated continued growth. However, this remained static across many indicators, and slackened in others.
- In the Norfolk manufacturing sector there continued to be a decline in both export sales and orders (-25) and (-33) respectively. Domestic sales moved out of negative territory from (-8) in Q4 2015 to (0) this quarter, however home orders fell further to (-9).
- However, more Norfolk manufacturing firms grew their workforce in the last three months (+2), but those expecting to recruit in the next 3 months declined to (+10) from (+18) in Q4 2015.
- The Norfolk service sector showed mixed results, with domestic sales falling (+21) and orders remaining static (+11); whilst export sales and orders increased (+9) and (+3) respectively.
- In both the Norfolk manufacturing and service sectors reported less difficulties in recruiting staff.
- Confidence in turnover and profitability for both services and manufacturing remains low by historical standards
More results from previous quarterly economic surveys can be seen by clicking here
