The Herefordshire & Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce has published a full report and economic brief for its Quarterly Economic Survey for Q3 2016. The full report can be viewed here.
Commenting on the findings of the report, Gary Woodman, Chief Executive of Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “In the last quarter we’ve seen great results from the range of projects we’ve funded across Worcestershire; just one of the factors that have led to signs of strong confidence in the local economy. In this QES report we can see that local businesses are continuing their excellent performance seen throughout this year, with a majority of businesses reporting an increase in domestic sales over the last quarter.
“While the latest QES findings indicate that most businesses have not been affected by the EU Referendum outcome, there are some clear signs that reflect the impact of the referendum result on the local economy. For example, a majority of businesses have reported their export sales remained constant in the last quarter, and manufacturing businesses in particular have reported that the result has influenced levels of business investment.
“We believe that greater clarity on EU negotiations and policy from Government, and greater levels of local investment in key areas such as skills, infrastructure and business support will lessen the impact of uncertainty in the UK economy and help to ensure Worcestershire continues its excellent rate of growth seen in recent years. The Worcestershire LEP and partners will continue to work with partners to understand the local economic impact of the referendum result over the coming quarters and throughout the negotiations.
“To help promote further local economic growth, we’ve recently submitted bids for a total of £105m of Government funding to invest in a wide range of infrastructure projects and other innovative initiatives – in particular a £70m bid to complete the much needed dualling of the A4440 Carrington Bridge. The successes of our existing projects and partners, and the exceptional growth of our local businesses are all topics that we will be celebrating at our 2016 Annual Conference on 4 November. I would therefore encourage all local businesses to register their attendance at our Conference via our website, www.wlep.co.uk.”