South East businesses are upbeat about the year ahead despite the ongoing impact of lockdown restrictions, a new survey has shown.
Business activity in the South East of England fell for the second month in a row, the latest regional PMI data from NatWest showed.
But the region was optimistic for the future as business started preparing for the rollout of vaccines and the eventual reopening of the 海角视频 economy.
The PMI survey measures the output of businesses, with any reading about 50 showing growth and any below 50 showing decline.
The South East’s overall figure for February was 48.9, showing a slight decline - but that was an improvement on the 41.5 reported in January with volumes of new orders falling only slightly.
Manufacturers saw new orders grow during the month, though that was offset by service providers noting falls in new orders.
Companies in the South East also continued to shed jobs for the 13th month in a row, while for the ninth month in a row businesses reported rising costs.
The survey also measures how optimistic businesses are about the future - and South East businesses were more upbeat than the 海角视频 average.
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The firms surveyed were confident that business activity would increase over the next 12 months - with the level of positive sentiment the strongest since the index began in July 2021.
NatWest said: “Panellists overwhelmingly linked positive expectations to the ending of COVID-19 restrictions, with vaccination rollouts fuelling hopes of a return to normality.”
Stuart Johnstone, NatWest managing director for corporate & commercial banking in London and the South East, said: "Latest PMI data signalled another downturn in business activity at the South East with demand conditions relatively subdued in February.
"Ongoing lockdown restrictions extended business closures, and firms continued to develop spare capacity. Price pressures also intensified during the month with transportation bottlenecks adding to a robust rate of input price inflation.
"That said, there were real signs of improvement with much softer falls in new orders, activity and employment recorded. Positive vaccination news and hopes that the virus will pass also supported optimism which reached a series high in February.
"Meanwhile, the government's 'roadmap out of lockdown' will be welcomed by firms, with restrictions set to ease, and the demand environment expected to improve over the coming months."