Confidence in the manufacturing sector continues its downward slide, according to research by private equity firm Bowmark Capital.
Confidence in the manufacturing sector continues its downward slide, according to research by private equity firm Bowmark Capital.
Manufacturing optimism hit a low of 66.1 points in 2009, a fall of 14 per cent since 2007. Some 81 per cent of respondents to Bowmark’s survey from the manufacturing sector said that staffing levels had decreased, while a quarter (25 per cent) were having problems servicing their debt.
Business services, on the other hand, saw a year-on-year uplift of 13 per cent in business confidence to 78.7 points.
The Bowmark Entrepreneurs’ Index, which surveys directors of small to medium-sized businesses, found that 59 per cent of respondents expected a sustained recovery in the UK economy in 2010.
Bowmark Capital’s managing partner, Charles Ind, said: ‘The small and medium-sized companies we surveyed have been through the wars in the past 18 months, with some sectors worse affected than others by the recession.’
The healthcare industry has proved most resilient, with a significant amount of respondents (37 per cent) reporting a rise in profits of more than 20 per cent in the past year.
