According to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), the UK economy is set to make a ‘modest’ recovery in 2013 and that business confidence is growing.
Tuesday’s report follows yesterday’s set of data releases that also showed that UK companies are becoming more optimistic over the state of the nation’s economy, although this figure remains low by historical standards. The positive reports follow on from last week’s data that suggested that the Bank of England’s efforts to increase credit availability are staring to bear fruit.
“The economy is making progress, despite the numerous challenges it has faced,” said BCC Director General John Longworth. “Despite rising business confidence that the outlook will improve, it is clear that economic growth remains weak and that nurturing it must be a top priority.”
The BCC surveyed 7,662 businesses between the 12th of November and the 5th of December said that its results suggest that the UK’s economy didn’t shrink in the fourth quarter of 2012. Manufacturing orders rose by 11% from 8% in the previous three months, whilst service export orders increased to 18% from 15%.
Manufacturer confidence that their turnover will increase over the next year rose to 41% in the fourth quarter of 2012, up from the previous quarters reading of 32%. The profit outlook increased to its highest level since 2007.
In a separate report the British Retail Consortium said that strong growth in online shopping prevented a fall in retail sales over the Christmas period. Sales were up by 1.5% in December compared with the previous year. Without the 17.8% jump in online sales total sales would have fallen.
“Many retailers have invested a lot in making their websites easier to use across devices and also increasing confidence in their online security,” Helen Dickinson said. “For the more established retailers, it seems that much of the growth is now coming from online orders, while shop sales are stagnant at best.”
The UK is on the right course but the economy is still extremely vulnerable.
The Pound to Euro exchange rate is currently trading at 1.2257
The Pound to US Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.6088
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The Euro to US Dollar exchange rate is currently trading at 1.3122
The Euro to Pound exchange rate is currently trading at 0.8156
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