The North East England Chamber of Commerce has welcomed the results of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC)/DHL Quarterly International Trade Outlook published today (23 February 2017), which shows exporters’ confidence that their turnover will improve, jumped in Q4 2016, ahead of further moves towards Brexit.
Although the number of businesses reporting that their export sales and orders would improve remained largely constant in the last quarter of 2016, businesses in both manufacturing and services are increasingly confident that they will continue to improve turnover, and that profitability will increase or remain steady in the coming 12 months.
The BCC/DHL Trade Confidence Index, which measures the volume of trade documentation issued by accredited Chambers of Commerce, fell by 1.42% on the quarter – but remains nearly 5% up on the last quarter of 2015.
Ben Powick, policy adviser, North East England Chamber of Commerce said: “These results show a real mix of fortunes for North East exporters at present. Although the news is quite positive for the UK as a whole the quarter-on-quarter growth in trade documentation for the North East actually fell by 7.6%, which was in line with many regions’ experiences. For example, Northern Ireland reported a decline of 17.2% in the amount being processed. However, there are obviously companies like Seaward, benefitting from trading conditions at present.”
Mark Marsh, finance director, Seaward, a UK manufacturer of electrical safety test equipment, based in Peterlee, said: “We are significantly benefitting from the fall in the value of sterling against the Euro and the USA dollar. As over half of our business is international we are seeing an improvement in profits which we are reinvesting into the business to accelerate further international growth. Our main competitors are in Europe and the USA so we are also in a position to improve our UK market share as we are not subject to the same degree of price rises caused by the weakening in Sterling. I see the exchange rate as a huge opportunity for British manufacturing if they take advantage of increasing their market penetration.”
The results serve as a reminder that businesses are continuing to trade in spite of the uncertainty around Brexit. But to maintain this positivity, the government must focus on the fundamentals of the economy – helping exporters recruit to close a growing skills gap, and provide support for those seeking to navigate currency fluctuations.