Shropshire Chamber of Commerce has launched its latest quarterly economic survey to gain a snapshot of the mood among local employers.
The survey quizzes business owners on a wide range of topics including sales forecasts, international trade, recruitment, training, cashflow, and confidence levels.
It is open to any business of any size in Shropshire or Telford & Wrekin. Companies do not need to be a member of Shropshire Chamber to take part.
All submissions are anonymous. Closing date for submissions is September 6. To take part, see www.surveymonkey.com/r/ShropChamberQES32024
Shropshire’s results are fed into the national survey by the British Chambers of Commerce, which is used by the Bank of England and other relevant bodies and economists.
Ruth Ross, Shropshire Chamber’s chief executive, said: “It’s really important for us that as many businesses as possible take time to fill in this survey.
“It is completely anonymous – so that you can speak freely - and takes only a few minutes. Every single business voice matters. The greater the voice, the greater the influence we can have to support the businesses of Shropshire.
“This is part of the largest and most respected quarterly business intelligence survey in the country, and the BCC asks us to gather business sentiment in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin to feed this into the data.
“The results are used by multiple Government departments, as well as the Bank of England, to understand the business climate. We want it to paint as accurate a picture as possible of the local economy.”
Shropshire Chamber’s previous quarterly survey revealed that the number of businesses reporting a rise in profitability fell by 10% on the first three months of 2024, while those reporting a rise in turnover was down by 7%.
Recruitment continued to be a major challenge for many businesses. One retail business said: “We are offering an apprenticeship role, but recruits are incredibly unreliable – the majority didn’t even turn up for their interview.”
Another company in the professional services sector said: “We have difficulty in finding specialist skills, especially in commercial property.”
Nearly three quarters of businesses said they were having to offer higher wages in an attempt to attract new staff, and around one in three said bad debts were increasing.
Pictured: Ruth Ross, Shropshire Chamber chief executive
