Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce has released the Quarterly Economic Survey Report for Q1 2023, sponsored by Worcestershire County Council and Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership.
The latest survey was completed by 5258 businesses across the UK and 352 (6.7%) of these were businesses in Herefordshire and Worcestershire. This survey had a focus on green skills and businesses in Herefordshire and Worcestershire have demonstrated through the QES that they are playing their part in becoming more sustainable, with 38% of local businesses saying they have taken steps to be more environmentally sustainable and it is an important consideration to their business.
In this survey we have seen a reduction in the number of businesses reporting inflation as a cause for concern to their business. 67% of businesses reported that inflation was a concern to their business, compared to 76% in the previous quarter. At the time of writing, the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has recently announced his Spring Budget. The Chancellor made it a priority to tackle inflation, attributing it to ongoing economic challenges. However, despite UK inflation easing in March, rising food prices has meant inflation remains higher than expected above 10%, adding to the speculation that the Bank of England will raise interest rates again. Inflation fell to 10.1 per cent in the year to March from 10.4 per cent in February. It was widely expected to fall below 10 per cent, but food prices have risen their fastest rate in 45 years.
I am grateful to our partners at Worcestershire County Council and Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership for supporting us with this survey. The Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce are committed to supporting all activities that promote green skills development, opportunity, and workforce planning.
I hope you find the report is useful to your business and thank you for taking part in the survey.
Click here to download your free copy of the report: QES_Q1 2023 (hwchamber.co.uk)