Following on from a story published here on Tuesday – ‘EXPORT IS GOOD FOR BUSINESS’ – the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) are reporting that UK export activity has increased reaching levels not seen since before the financial crisis hit.
Its trade index, which is based on the volume of trade documents administered to businesses by the BCC, was 118.12 in Q2 2013, up 2.9 per cent on the same period in 2012.
The report showed a rise in the number of exporting firms that expanded their workforces over the past three months. And many companies said that they are confident about hiring more staff over the coming quarter.
Exporters’ confidence that their turnover and profitability will improve over the next twelve months also remained high.
However, for the second quarter in a row there was only a moderate change in confidence levels.
Overall, 60 per cent of exporters feel that their turnover will increase throughout 2013; up one percentage point from the previous quarter. But the balance was unchanged as the percentage of firms that felt that turnover will worsen over the coming year edged up one to 16 per cent.
Read the full story at ENforBusiness

436,000 file first quarterly update through Making Tax Digital for Income Tax
Managing Director of John Lewis to step down
British Business Bank to boost support for investors in UK start-ups