Optimism about the economy and trading prospects has put North East firms at the top of a 海角视频 table for business confidence.
Data collected across April shows regional businesses reported higher confidence in their own business prospects month-on-month, up 18 points at 55%. Optimism in the economy was up 14 points to 63%, giving and overall confidence reading of 59%, compared with 43% in March.
The findings from the Lloyds Business Barometer show that, despite global economic challenges, North East confidence ran counter to the overall 海角视频 trend which saw sentiment fall 10 points in April to 39%. A net balance of 68% of regional firms also expect to increase staff levels over the next year, up 19 points on last month.
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Looking at the six months ahead, North East firms identified growth focus areas a new technology (55%); investing in their team, for example through training (53%) and breaking into new markets (38%).
Nationally, companies' optimism in their own trading prospects fell seven points to 50% while confidence in the wider economy fell 13 points to 28%. Following the North East at the top of the rankings was the West Midlands (53%) and the North West (52%).
Confidence was down across multiple sectors including manufacturing where it fell by only one point to 38%. The construction sector experienced the largest drop, falling 22 points to 26% while retail confidence also slumped by 13 points to 45% and the service industry saw a seven point fall to 40%.
Martyn Kendrick, regional director of the North East at Lloyds, said: "Longer days have brought about a brighter outlook from North East businesses, with the region’s businesses leading the 海角视频 in business confidence for a second time this year.
"As local firms look to build on this outlook, we’ll continue to be providing our support – whether that’s helping them make new investments their people, premises or products or providing insight to help them shape their strategies."
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Hann-Ju Ho, senior economist, Lloyds Commercial Banking, said: "With the announcement of global tariffs from the United States on April 2, and the market volatility that followed, it is unsurprising that business confidence saw an impact this month.
"However, economic optimism remains higher than at the beginning of the year, showing businesses’ resilience in the face of recent challenges and overall confidence is still well above the long-term average of 29%, an average taken from over 20 years of analysis."
The Business Barometer surveys 1,200 businesses monthly and has been running since 2002. It is intended to provides early signals about 海角视频 economic trends at a regional and national level.