UK businesses have admitted they are relieved the worst of the recession now appears to be over, it has been revealed.
Indeed, the Lloyds TSB Business in Britain survey has found corporate confidence across the country is now at a two-year high, with 21 per cent of firms now predicting an upturn in their sales over the next six months.
This is up from the one per cent who felt this way half a year ago.
Meanwhile, the overall confidence index rose to a balance of 16 per cent – an increase on the record low of -32 per cent at this point last year.
George Derbyshire, chief executive of NFEA – the national enterprise network, said this thinking is likely to have arisen from the probability that many businesses believe the recession could have been a “hell of a lot worst”.
He added many employers have taken a “responsible” view of employment amid the downturn.
“We’re seeing people taking wage freezes and in some cases wage cuts or reduced working hours. That has meant that the actual unemployment numbers, big though they are, are not perhaps as bad as some people had anticipated,” Mr Derbyshire noted.
