Gloucestershire firms buck national trend with increased sales and recruitment

Business West’s latest survey of businesses has found that Gloucestershire firms saw increases in sales and recruitment in May and June. This bucked both the wider South West and national trend which found that the economy stalled amid the uncertainty surrounding the EU Referendum.

The survey of over 160 Gloucestershire businesses in May and June found that:

Over half (53%) of firms reported increases in domestic sales, up 11 points on the quarter.

International sales increased by one point to 42%.

Recruitment (29%) this quarter, and intentions to take on staff (36%), rose by four and six points respectively.

Two thirds of businesses said they were confident about the year ahead.

All major indicators were above levels seen this time last year.

Commenting on the results, Ian Mean, Director of Business West Gloucestershire, said:

“The latest findings paint a positive picture for Gloucestershire, especially when the same survey found that both the wider South West and national economy stalled over the same period.

“It is too early to tell what impact the EU Referendum decision has had on firms across our county, but these results show that as the Brexit uncertainty intensified in the weeks before the referendum, our region’s economy was still performing strongly.

“The context has changed somewhat since then, as a Brexit vote has raised more questions about future growth, but nonetheless it is encouraging to see our continued growth after a strong start to the year.

"The results of our survey show the tremendous resilience of our companies here in Gloucestershire to power on with their business at a time of great uncertainty.

"The tenacity of our Gloucestershire members is a positive business attitude which is very encouraging post Brexit.

“I think the stability we will now hopefully see with the new Prime Minister will add to the confidence we have seen in the determination of our local companies not to be put off by any stock market or political confusion.

“As the fallout from Brexit continues, we want to hear how the result has affected local businesses in terms of confidence, investment and recruitment decisions. You can do this by contacting our Policy Team.”