The latest Lloyds Bank Business Barometer showed that business confidence in the United Kingdom remained at 50% in August.
Although there was no increase to the overall UK business confidence figure, the result highlighted the continued positivity amongst businesses, with “confidence still at the highest level reported since November 2015.”
This continued confidence was displayed “in the economic optimism metric, which showed an increase from 45% in July to 47% in August, continuing the upward trajectory of confidence readings throughout 2024.”
Meanwhile, trading prospects remained positive, “albeit with a minor decline, to 54% in August – down from of 56% in July. However, this result is still the second highest recorded in 2024.”
Hann-Ju Ho, Senior Economist, Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking said in July they saw especially strong indications of business confidence.. While the GDP data for the first half of the year was positive, the survey indicates that strong economic performance is likely to continue for the second half in the year.
Price expectations among firms decreased “once again for the second time in three months. In August, 58% of firms planned to raise prices in the next year (down from 60%), whereas 4% intended to lower them (up from 3%).”
The net balance dropped three points to 54%, “making it the second lowest in 2024, with a three-month average of 55% – the lowest since September 2023.”
Despite this decline, the net balance “remained high in contrast to pre-Covid levels.”
Output expectations for the various sectors remained “at or near their three-year highs.”
Construction had a steep “increase to 58%, up by 14 points, whereas other sectors experienced slight declines.”
Trading prospects for manufacturing dropped “by 2 points to 58%, at the same level as construction, while Retail and Services fell to 53%, down 7 and 3 points respectively.”
Six of the UK’s 12 regions reported higher business confidence in August “with the Northeast and Scotland being the most upbeat followed by London and the Northwest.”
Although the East Midlands and East of England “displayed lower confidence this month, they remained above the national average.”
Wales, the Southwest, and Yorkshire & the Humber “were in the lowest quartile.”
However, the latter two regions still “showed higher confidence in August compared to July.”
