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Enterprise

Greater Birmingham businesses showing 'underlying resilience' - report

But latest quarterly chamber survey says recruitment is still a major issue

Henrietta Brealey, chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce

Businesses in Greater Birmingham are showing "underlying resilience" in their battle against soaring levels of inflation, the conflict in Ukraine and the global energy crisis, according to a new report.

And recruitment difficulties remain one of the biggest concerns, with record numbers of firms in the region struggling to find the right talent to fill vacancies, says the Quarter 2 Business Report from Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce.

It said that recruitment difficulties were at the joint highest on record with 76 per cent of those who attempted to recruit experiencing difficulties.

The crisis was highest in the manufacturing sector, the chamber said, where 82 per cent of firms were struggling to recruit compared with 74 per cent in the service sector.

Recruitment problems are among several factors reflected in this quarter's results caused by the impact of soaring levels of inflation, exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine and the global energy crisis.

Chamber chief executive Henrietta Brealey said: "Persistent issues around accessing talent remain apparent as a record proportion of businesses faced recruitment difficulties.

"Within this context, the importance of projects and events such as High Speed 2 and the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games becomes even more apparent given the opportunities they present to upskill local talent across the region."