Northern Society of Chartered Accountants

Q2 2021: Confidence in Northern England has improved but lags the rest of UK

• Businesses have experienced falls in domestic sales and profits over the past year, albeit at more modest rates than for the UK as a whole. 
• In contrast, export levels have remained stable over the past year, with declines during the early period of the crisis perhaps balanced out by a temporary surge in orders in late 2020 from EU-based customers. 
• Concerns over customer demand have eased slightly, but problems with regulatory requirements and transport have become more prominent. 
• Although the Business Confidence Index has improved markedly in Q2 2021, it is still the lowest of any UK region.
• This may partly stem from more subdued growth expectations for sales, profits and employment than nationally. 
• The more cautious outlook may reflect the less severe falls in sales over the last 12 months but could also relate to the concerns businesses have as they adjust to the new UK-EU trading relationship.

Read more at icaew.com

About Northern Society of Chartered Accountants

Northern Society of Chartered Accountants (NorSCA) represents 4,000 ICAEW members and ACA students working in business and the finance profession across the North East of England, Teesside, northern Yorkshire and Cumbria.

We have been assisting businesses in the north of England and producing chartered accountants for over 130 years.

About ICAEW

There are over 1.8m chartered accountants and students around the world – talented, ethical and committed professionals who use their expertise to ensure we have a successful and sustainable future.

Over 181,500 of these are ICAEW Chartered Accountants and students, a powerful and diverse network of talented people, whose initiative and integrity help economies thrive. We train, develop and support each one of them so that they have the knowledge and values to help build local and global economies that are sustainable, accountable and fair.

We’ve been at the heart of the accountancy profession since we were founded in 1880 to ensure trust in business. We speak for the profession, uphold standards and campaign for progress in a volatile world. We work with others to develop strong, accountable and open economies where people can trust data, leaders can make good decisions, public finances are transparent and businesses are accountable.

ICAEW (Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) is a founder member of Chartered Accountants Worldwide and the Global Accounting Alliance.