BCC: 'Businesses ready to push on, but more finance needed'

The five balances are domestic orders (+35%), employment (+33%), employment expectations (+31%), turnover confidence (+67%), and profitability confidence (+51%). But the BCC reported that concerns still existed. "In manufacturing, the key balances for domestic sales and export orders fell slightly, although these are still high by historical standards." And manufacturing cashflow fell back from Q3, which, the BCC said "underscores the need to promote access to finance, so businesses can expand to meet growing order books". The survey suggests that growth will continue and probably strengthen in the short term; the BCC estimated that GDP growth in Q4 2013 could be 0.9%. John Longworth, director general of the BCC, said: "Confidence is high and our members are resolute in their determination to take the recovery from being good to being truly great. Firms across the board believe they can create jobs, invest, and export. It is especially pleasing that the spurt in the manufacturing has proven not to be a fluke, which demonstrates the dynamism of our small, high value, manufacturing sector. But businesses have major ambitions, and to be able to meet them, more support must be provided." He added: "Cashflow continues to be an ongoing concern, and may hold businesses back from expanding to meet the growing levels of demand. We must give companies the opportunity to get the finance they need to go out and trade the world if we are to succeed in rebalancing the economy." The survey is made up of responses from around 8,000 businesses.