Business leaders say they plan expansion

Business confidence is growing with two fifths saying they will expand and nearly a third planning to hire new staff, according RSM Tenon’s “business barometer”.

By James Moore

The accountancy firm also said that three in five business owners felt confident about the potential opportunities for their business over the next three months - a rise of 13 per cent from the previous six months.

The Business Barometer, questioned over 300 business owners throughout the UK at the end of January 2010.

While 47 per cent do not plan to make any changes in the next 12 months, against 39 per cent planning expansion, just 11 per cent expect to cut back.

Nationally, 43 per cent of entrepreneurs expect demand for their services or goods to increase over the next three months - an increase of 12 per cent over the previous six months.

At the same time, 21 per cent plan to increase the price of their goods or services over the next three months while only 8 per cent think they will have to cut prices.

Andy Raynor, Chief Executive of RSM Tenon, said: “We believe that business leaders have made a key contribution to the fragile recovery we have witnessed to date.

"Active investment into businesses is a key indicator of confidence and our barometer shows planned spending has been steadily growing over the last nine months. This survey suggests a brighter than expected outlook."

The survey was carried out by YouGov.