Business confidence is improving in the North East as factors holding companies back over the last year begin to ease, an influential survey has said.
The quarterly economic report from the North East England Chamber of Commerce suggests more organisations are preparing to create jobs and are expecting inflation to stabilise. Concerns around recruitment and cashflow remain, however, and there has been a warning recent months have put massive strains on many firms.
Investment in training and equipment has fallen as businesses struggle with cashflow and only 41% of firms in the region are working at full capacity, the survey says. Costs remain a key issue for many business with almost three-quarters of firms taking part in the survey (71.3%) remaining concerned about energy prices.
