ECONOMIC uncertainty is the biggest challenge facing businesses in the region.
That was a key finding in the South of Scotland Enterprise business panel survey.
They contacted 601 firms locally to find out about business confidence and to identify challenges and opportunities.
And 94 per cent replied that they had a significant financial concern, with high and increasing costs a significant concern for almost three-quarters.
The findings also reveal positive change in Net Zero planning and businesses supporting their employees, but also issues related to confidence and financial outlook.
Other key themes and figures include:
– 75 per cent of employers are supporting their workforce, with training, or flexible working, or making pay and rewards more competitive.
– Half of employers planned to absorb the additional costs associated with staff, while 48 per cent planned to increase prices.
– Temporary or seasonal roles were more of a challenge than permanent roles to fill.
– 29 per cent were planning to pause or stop recruitment, 20 per cent to reduce or stop pay increases or benefits and 16 per cent to reduce the number of staff.
-A third of businesses had a formal plan in place to reduce emissions.
– Over half of businesses (59 per cent) were either currently investing or planning to invest in the future.
– Two thirds expected stability and to perform at much the same level over the next six months.
– Just 25 per cent said their business had performed well, for 44 per it had been fairly steady, and the rest had struggled.
– Sales or turnover performance was mixed – 27 per cent said it had increased, 29 per cent decreased, and 43 per cent remained the same.
– 42 per cent of businesses were striving for growth, while 16 per cent were wanting to downsize in the future.
– Finally, 37 per cent of businesses were confident in the economic outlook of Scotland, while 61 per cent were not.
Commenting, SOSE boss Jane Morrison-Ross said: “These are challenging economic times and it is understandable this has impacted the confidence of businesses, and appearing to influence some decisions around investment and growth.
“We understand there are a number of challenges for the business community at this time and we remain committed to working closely with economic agencies and our other partners to realise value and provide as much financial and non-financial support as we can.
“This support aims to ensure the South of Scotland becomes the rural economic powerhouse we know it can be.”
The full survey is available at www.southofscotlandenterprise.com/business-surveys
