The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) apparently maintains a Business Confidence Monitor and it has shown a rise on previous quarters.  Two-thirds of businesses are planning growth in turnover during the next two years.  Optimism, on its own, is no guarantee that things are improving, but there are some positive signs emerging.

At a recent seminar (sales pitch for Action Coach) attended by a good number of (small-medium) business owners, a significant number of the audience indicated that business is better this year than last.  The news appears to lag behind reality when it comes to reporting major changes in matters of finance.  The recession was well underway by the time anything appeared in ‘news’papers.  Similarly, by the time anything appears in print about the recovery it will be read in departure lounges.

There are always negative signs amongst the positive.  The local filling station is lots of litres down on petrol sales.  ‘There are lots of people on a three-day week’.  I doubt it is to do with many of us travelling five miles less per week.

Is there any other bad ‘news’ waiting in the wings?  Have we seen all of the banks’ failings?  The banking crisis happened almost over night, but the problems that caused it didn’t – and they were all so obvious – after the event.  Improvement in employment  prospects will be delayed until the uncertainty has passed.  The pantomime season is fast approaching.  Let’s hope we can all be saying, very soon, about the recession ‘It’s behind you!’

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 24th, 2009 at 4:21 pm and is filed under DPM. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.