Business confidence has jumped to an 18-month high despite political turmoil from both Brexit and June’s general election, according to the latest report from Lloyds Bank.
Britain’s confidence index rose to 24 percent in May, above the average figure for the last 25 years which stands at 23 percent.
However, the number of companies that said they had found it hard to find skilled labour over the past six months rose to a 10-year high of 52 percent, up from 31 percent in January.
Lloyds Bank surveyed 1,500 UK companies, after the general election was called. Tim Hinton of Lloyds Banking Group said: “Although challenges remain in recruiting both skilled and unskilled labour, businesses are anticipating higher sales, increased profits and staffing levels to rise.
“However, the outlook remains mixed at best.”
Businesses based in the North East of England had a particularly optimistic view of the future, with their figure rising to an 18-month high of 33 percent. This was topped only by Wales, who have seen their confidence rise by 19 percentage points since the start of the year to hit 34 percent.
Businesses in Scotland, on the other hand, were less optimistic – the nation had the lowest score in the UK of just 19 percent and was the only place in Britain to experience a fall in confidence since January.
