Money

Business confidence boost as hiring hits year-long high


Plans for hiring staff in Scotland are at a year-long high, according to a new report.

The Bank of Scotland’s Business Barometer for June shows a 17% rise in overall business confidence across Scotland in the past month to 17%.

Hiring intentions north of the border have reached their highest level since May 2018 as a net balance of a fifth of businesses (20%) plan to create new jobs in the next year – up 23% on last month.

Economic optimism has risen 19 points to 2% in the past month, while firms’ confidence in their own business prospects was 32%, up from 17% in May.

Brexit fears for businesses have dropped in Scotland, the barometer found, but a net balance of around a third of firms still believe the UK’s exit from the EU is having a negative impact on their expectations for business activity.

This has dropped 18% from last month.

The monthly survey of 1,200 businesses found business confidence in Scotland is four percentage points higher than that across the UK as a whole.

UK-wide overall confidence grew three percentage points to 13% between May and June.

Fraser Sime, regional director for Scotland at Bank of Scotland, said: “It’s encouraging to see not only a rise in confidence among Scottish businesses but also that this is translating into intentions to employ more people in 2019.

“This is hopefully the start of a more continued optimistic outlook on the year ahead for firms across all sectors.”



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