Companies in the South West are continuing to recover from Covid disruption, but many have mounting concerns over cost pressures amid rising inflation and the invasion of Ukraine, new data has revealed.
There was a “sharp and accelerated” expansion of business activity in the region last month, according to the data from NatWest - but concerns over increased costs and ongoing supply chain disruption weighed on overall business confidence.
The headline NatWest South West Business Activity Index – a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of the region’s manufacturing and service sectors – increased from 54.0 in January to 59.6 in February. The rate of growth was the quickest seen for seven months and was similar to that seen at the national level.
