LCCI Quarterly Economic Survey, Q2 2014

ComRes interviewed 506 London business decision makers between 19th May and 11th June 2014. Data were weighted to be representative of all London businesses by company size. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules.

Date Published: 06 Jul 2014

Categories: Business | Professionals | Public Sector | UK

Download LCCI Quarterly Economic Survey, Q2 2014 0.02 MB.

Description

Strong pound hitting London’s exporters

A survey of London businesses has highlighted stagnating export demand – with a tenth (10%) of firms reporting a decrease in export sales and only 11% reporting an increase. These disappointing export figures reflect the recent widening of the trade deficit and the strong performance of sterling.

The figures come as London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) publishes “Capital 500”, London’s biggest and most authoritative business survey of over of over 500 business leaders, in partnership with leading polling agency ComRes.

Overall, London businesses are optimistic about their future prospects with 47% of the Capital 500 firms expecting an increased turnover over the next 12 months.

However, uncertainty about potential interest rate rises appears to be of growing concern to the Capital 500 businesses, with three in ten (29%) more worried about interest rates this quarter than three months ago, potentially leading to weakening business investment levels. Cost pressures are also bearing down on firms, as 47% saw the cost of energy for their business increase in the last three months and 42% felt pressure to raise prices due to overheads.