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Northern Society of Chartered Accountants

At the heart of northern business since 1882

ICAEW/Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) findings for Q1 2016 6 April 2016

The latest ICAEW/Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) shows a further decline in business confidence as pace of growth slows.

ICAEW BCM Q1 2016 imageThe index, remains positive though it has fallen in all but one of the last seven quarters.

Key UK findings this quarter

  • The BCM Confidence Index stays in positive territory but now stands at +11.4, down from +15.6 last quarter and lower than the high of +37.3 two years ago
  • Growth in turnover, sales and profits continues to soften, as do expectations for growth ahead
  • Some recovery in export sales is expected, after two quarters of weak growth, though challenges remain
  • Reflecting slower growth and lack of confidence in the longer term, capital investment growth continues to fall
  • The number of firms operating below capacity has risen, particularly in the Manufacturing and Engineering and IT and Communications sectors
  • Employment growth has eased off since 2015 while salary growth stays on hold

You can read the full UK Q1 2016 ICAEW/Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) report here.

Northern England findings this quarter

In the Q1 2016 ICAEW/Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor (BCM), 70 senior business professionals in Northern England were interviewed and record a Confidence Index score of +3.5.

Confidence has been falling since Q1 2014, but this latest decline represents a steeper descent, bringing confidence close to negative territory.

You can read the full Northern England Q1 2016 ICAEW/Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) report here.

We hold regular Business Confidence Monitor Breakfast Briefings during the year – search for our next event in our events section norsca.co.uk/events

Find out more about the ICAEW/Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor

You can read more about the Q1 2016 ICAEW/Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) key findings and the press release at icaew.com/bcm

About Northern Society

The Northern Society of Chartered Accountants (NorSCA) represents ICAEW members 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.

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