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The Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce’s latest quarterly business report shows many businesses in the region are off to a strong start in 2024, with positive trends in hiring, domestic sales and stable prices.
The first quarter report, sponsored by Birmingham City University, found that the number of companies trying to recruit rose by 2% in the last quarter, while the number of companies experiencing recruitment difficulties fell sharply from 72% to 63% – the lowest figure since March 2021. For three seasons.
Recruitment confidence across all sectors showed early signs of improvement, with 39% of businesses expecting their workforce to increase over the next three months.
At the same time, 45% of companies reported an increase in domestic sales and domestic orders, both up 5 percentage points from the previous quarter.
The figures clearly show that UK sales are on an upward trend after falling sharply from 50% to 39% in the second and third quarters of last year.
Export sales remain tepid, with the number of companies reporting export sales growth unchanged from 28% in the last quarter of 2023.
Henrietta Brealey, chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, said: “While there remain challenges with investment and exports, business confidence has improved at the start of 2024 in terms of recruitment, domestic sales and price stability.
“Domestic sales and orders continue to show signs of progress as more businesses are now reporting increased UK business activity than stable, reversing a trend that has been going on for several consecutive quarters.
“While there are signs of recovery from the sudden slump in mid-2023, export growth lags domestic growth. This highlights the difficulties faced by companies trading internationally, especially as they grapple with complex domestic macroeconomic challenges. International business and political environments, such as chaos in the Red Sea and geopolitical instability in the Middle East.
“Looking at the broader business confidence pattern, slightly more businesses expect prices to stabilize rather than rise than last quarter, consistent with inflation concerns falling slightly from the second half of 2023.
“The bottom line is that hiring improved significantly during the quarter, although overcoming difficulties in acquiring talent remains a priority for businesses and pricing pressure remains strong.”
Jo Birch, Director of Innovation, Enterprise, Employability and Business Engagement at Birmingham City University, said: “The first quarter report highlights a number of positive trends in response to the business base, indicating the level of prosperity in the year ahead.
“For example, the labor force is expected to grow and recruitment difficulties will decrease, while there is also positive sentiment in domestic and export markets.
“However, it is worth noting that only 47% of businesses said they were operating at full capacity.
“Reflecting the theme of the report, and as echoed by the Chamber’s recent Business Committee, innovative businesses must be supported to expand and scale up to drive regional productivity and growth.”
The quarterly report will be launched on 23 April at an event focusing on innovation in Greater Birmingham at Birmingham City University.
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