The Business Confidence Monitor reflects continued challenges for UK businesses
The UK’s business confidence has dropped to a 13-year low, according to a survey conducted by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW).
The ICAEW’s latest Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) showed that record high inflation and rising costs, including energy and the cost-of-living crisis, have adversely affected business confidence.
The latest monitor showed confidence had fallen to -23.4 for Q1 2023, the lowest since the global financial crisis of 2009 and considerably lower than the Q4 2022 level of -16.9.
Effect on confidence in various sectors
Most sectors have shared this decline, with construction, property, retail and wholesale, and manufacturing the least confident. Annual growth in domestic sales was slowest in the manufacturing and engineering (3.9%) and retail and wholesale (4.8%) sectors.
“These findings suggest that the economy went from bad to worse at the end of last year,” says ICAEW’s Economies Director Suren Thiru. “The drop in confidence largely reflects the lethal combination of sky-high inflation and deteriorating customer demand that many firms are struggling to grapple with.”
Michael Izza, Chief Executive of the ICAEW, said ‘Financial challenges have had a big impact on certain sectors and across the board investment is set to fall over the next year, but it is notable that sentiment could be starting to level off.”
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For the full report visit: ICAEW website
