The FINANCIAL — In the lead-up to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, 43% of respondents said they had shelved plans to invest recently due to current market turmoil, while 66% of corporates expect to see more business failures in their sector and 54% view the private sector as too risk adverse.
The survey also found that the private sector is not looking to Government to resolve the current economic malaise; just a third of UK corporates believe the Government has the ability to drive economic recovery and has the strategy to do so. Another third believe the economic situation is simply too much of a global issue for the Government to resolve.
The vast majority of respondents also said the environment in which they do business is becoming either steadily or rapidly more competitive, highlighting the challenges faced by businesses today.
Despite the challenges, however, exporting remains a bright spot. Of the corporates surveyed that export, 60% predicted the amount of goods or services they sell aboard would grow in 2012, compared with just 3% that predicted export orders would fall. It was one area that corporates were crying out for more Government assistance, with 85% of corporates stating the Government could and should be doing more to support trade.
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