Businesses in the North East, Yorkshire and Humber are reporting a sharp decline in confidence, according to a new survey.
The quarterly Small Business Index from the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has fallen from a score of +1% in the first quarter of the year to -26% in Q2. The score for the North East, Yorkshire and Humber region is below the national average of -24.7%, and the worst since records began apart from the pandemic.
The results come as cost pressures, rising taxes and labour shortages are making life difficult for many small businesses. Those pressures have also seen business investment sentiment turn negative, the survey found, while nearly two-thirds of businesses int he region said they’d increased salaries to help cope with staffing issues.
