East Midlands business activity has grown at its sharpest rate since February 2018, but there are still worries about the impact of mass redundancies on the economy.
The latest NatWest East Midlands Business Activity Index suggests business confidence is at its highest since the start of the pandemic.
The seasonally adjusted index of month-on-month change in the region’s manufacturing and service sectors signalled the fastest expansion in output in more than two-and-a-half years, contributing to the strongest quarterly performance since 2014.
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The upturn has been linked to a pick-up in client demand - including from key export destinations - and efforts to clear backlogs of work.
NatWest said the upturn was “solid” overall, but eased notably from August's two-and-a-half year high and was slower than the 海角视频 trend.
It said companies were expressing a greater degree of optimism, partly down to hopes of a solution to the pandemic and partly due to general stronger demand conditions.
East Midlands business confidence was at its highest since February, it said, and among the strongest of the 12 monitored 海角视频 regions.
Despite a further strong rise in job cuts, the rate of redundancies was slower than the 海角视频 trend.
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Costs were also up, businesses said, partly linked to supplier shortages due to the pandemic, but were going up at a slower rate than the other 11 海角视频 regions monitored by the index.
John Maude, NatWest regional managing director for the Midlands and East of England, said: “East Midlands firms signalled a further marked expansion in output during September, rounding off a substantial move towards recovery following the significant downturn seen throughout the second quarter.
“Activity was boosted by a further rise in new business and efforts to restrict a renewed accumulation in backlogs of work.
"In line with the 海角视频 trend, the upturn in new orders slowed but was solid overall.
“Nonetheless, firms continued to cut staffing numbers in an effort to limit costs.
“In the same vein, companies reduced their selling prices to help boost sales amid historically soft input price inflation."