Scottish business confidence increasing
Scottish firms are starting to feel more confident about their prospects, but the Bank of Scotland says business optimism here is still the lowest in the UK.
The latest Business Barometer found firms reporting the same level in confidence in their prospects month-on-month at minus 33%.
When taken alongside their views of the economy overall, it gives a reading of minus 37%, a rise of four points from minus 41% in June.
"The slight increase in confidence we've seen this month is a step in the right direction." - Fraser Sime, Bank of Scotland
Fraser Sime, regional director for Scotland at Bank of Scotland commercial banking, said: "While marginal, the slight increase in confidence we've seen this month is a step in the right direction.
"There's still a long way to go for confidence to fully recover but the current transition to phase three of lockdown should hopefully continue to boost many firms' trading prospects.
"Pessimism is waning in many English regions as the hospitality and leisure sectors open their doors once again.
"With many firms beginning to restart operations here in Scotland this month, August will be telling as to whether the same confidence-inducing effect will take hold here, too.''
Confidence increased eight points to minus 22% at a UK level during July.
The north-east of England was the most confident region at minus 3%.
Wales and Scotland were the least confident with minus 31% and minus 37% respectively.
The majority of Scottish firms continued to be negatively affected by coronavirus during July.
Almost two-thirds - 64% - experienced a fall in demand for their products and services, up six points on the month before.
But 9% experienced an increase in demand, up four points on June.
With the job retention scheme beginning to wind down from August, 41% of Scottish firms surveyed said they have no workers furloughed.
Of the 55% of businesses reporting disruption to their supply chain during July, 18% expect the situation to improve within three months.
Only 2% expect it will take more than 12 months to return to normal levels.
The survey questions 1,200 businesses each month.
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